Anything But Ordinary
by Amy47101
Summary: Ghost Hunt continues on a year later when Naru arrives back from England! With new cases, new discoveries, and a new and useful addition to the team, SPR is ready to tackle some frightening new assignments. "Would I ever want to be ordinary? No way! Ordinary is comfortable and safe. Ordinary is a simple world of black and white. I'm happiest being anything BUT ordinary!"
1. File 9: Trust Me, They're Here Part 1

**Amy47101 is here! And this is something new that I'm trying. Ghost Hunt was amazingly awesome, so I decided to start writing some random stuff about it. First off, yes, there will be an OC. Maybe some MaixNaru. I dunno... uh... well, whatever. On with this story!**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Nine_

_Believe Me, They're Here_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai poured tea for the stiff women who sat in front of me. She obviously did not like the fact that she was sitting in front of those who researched the paranormal for a living. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt, and tucked a piece of blond hair behind her ear and out of her face. Naru, with his arms crossed, looked up at her while Lin had his fingers over the keyboard of his laptop, ready to type the information of the next file.

"Name?" Naru asked.

"Sakura Hyuaba." she swallowed.

"Business for contacting us?"

"Ah, well, you see... we don't have any major happenings, knocking, unexplained movement of objects, stuff of that sort. The thing I'm truly worried about..." she dug through her pockets, and brought out a picture. It was a a group of kids, some looking as young as small two to those who looked to be around seventeen, with the Ms. Hyuaba in the middle of the group. "Is this one right here." she pointed to a girl off to the side. She had long brown hair with purple highlights running through it, her eyes where unusual, one the lightest shade of blue before turning gray, the other deep coffee brown. From her looks, she seemed to be nineteen, easily the oldest looking of the group. Mai noticed that she had a smile on her face, but it didn't seem to be real.

"_She's smiling just for the picture." _I realized. "_It seems like an awkward action for her... Her eyes are so dull, like she's a void without emotion."_

"What do you do for a living, Ms. Hyuaba?" I asked, taking the picture in my hands.

"I run a foster care." she answered. "A lot of times, these kids need a meal or a job or just a place to get away. Sometimes, they're just by themselves. I take in the kids who need the help."

"What does any of this have to do with that girl?" Naru demanded just as Mai asked what the girls name was.

"Her name is Emi." Ms. Hyuaba said, answering Mais' question first.

"Just Emi? No last name?" Mai asked, slightly surprised.

"I don't know her last name. She refuses to tell anyone what it is, or anything of her life before she came to me. 'Whats your last name?' I would ask. 'It's just Emi.' she would always answer. So, she's just Emi." she sighed again, and subconsciously tucked a hair behind her ear the wasn't there. "But she claims to see... spirits." Naru raised an eyebrow slightly, and although this action meant nothing to anyone else, Mai knew that the fact that Emi claimed to be clairvoyant peaked his interest. "I believe in no such things, and I think she's just playing pranks, but she still claimed to be telling the truth. For the past year, I have been bringing in doctors to diagnose whatever sickness she has. All of them said that they have no diagnoses, but she _might _be schizophrenic."

"If you don't believe in ghosts, then why are you here?" Naru asked.

"_Now there's the million dollar question." _Mai thought.

"I'm down to my last straw. Kids have been attacked recently, and they all saw they where saved by someone who looked like Emi. But that's impossible."

"Why?" Naru asked. Ms. Hyuaba looked down, almost ashamed of what she was going to tell them. She said nothing. "Ms. Hyuaba, if you don't tell us everything, then it will be extremely hard to help you fix any of your paranormal problems." Naru said bluntly, crossing his arms. Ms. Hyuaba sighed.

"The police came at one point. And when they asked if I had any suspects who had pent up rage to hurt them. The only person I could think of was Emi. Then they asked if she had any mental illnesses, I answered by saying that doctors said she may be schizophrenic. This was a red flag, so they said they wanted to keep her restrained for a few days. They placed a tracking device around her ankle, and it'll alert them if she steps out of the house. She's been sitting in her room for about three days now, the door locked, police orders. I'm the only one with the key, so unless she can pick locks, there's no way the most recent attacks are her, nor the fact that she 'saved' the kids."

"How do you know it's not another one of your children?" Naru asked.

"Because all of them have been attacked, and you can't fake screams of terror like that. All of them minus Emi, for some reason."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Mai pondered. "If she's stuck, wouldn't she be the easiest target? Especially since she may be psychic. The spirits should be attracted to her!" Ms. Hyuaba shrugged,

"Like I said, I'm don't believe it unless I see it. But if the cause of all this _is _paranormal and Emi _is _psychic, then it would be highly appreciated that you would come and help us fix our problem." Mai watched with anticipation as Naru placed his chin in his hand, pondering over wether or not to take the case. Finally, he looked up.

"We'll need a room for base and a few rooms for my team and I. We'll be arriving tom" he said. Ms. Hyuaba smiled, and bowed gratefully.

"Thank you, Mr. Shibuya." she said as she rose. She placed a piece paper into His hand. "This is the contact information and address. You never know what may happen." Naru glanced at the piece of paper, and placed it in his pocket. Ms. Hyuaba smiled, said a quick goodbye, and walked out the door. There was a silence, which was interrupted as Lin shut his laptop and Naru said out what Mai believed to be his favorite order.

"Mai, tea."

o.0.o.0.o

Monk let out a low whistle as he stared up at the building in front of SPR. It was huge! Practically a mansion, and Mai could hear child cries of happiness from out back.

"It would be highly appreciated if you would stop staring and continue to carry our equipment to base." Naru said as he passed the duo. Mai glared at the back of her bosses head as he passed, silently wishing she could burn a hole into his black hair. Adjusting the electric cords around her shoulder, she followed Monk up the stairs, passed by John and Ayako, finally coming to base where Lin and Naru took the equipment and set it up on the folding tables. The process repeated a few times, before finally ending.

Naru had recruited Ayako, John, and Monk for this case. He had earlier informed them that Masako was going to busy with her TV production to be working with them for the next few months, much to the unspoken relief of Mai. As Naru listed off the hot spots of the house, Ms. Hyuaba walked in.

"Would any of you like to talk to Emi?" she asked, glancing around with somewhat hidden disapproval of all the equipment to 'catch' ghosts. Her eyes fell on John, or, more accurately, the rosary around his neck. Her eyes widened. "Are you Catholic?"

"A priest, actually." John answered truthfully. "Why?"

"This is fantastic!" Ms. Hyuaba cried. "You see, between you and me, Emi is Catholic herself. But, like I told Mr. Shibuya, she doesn't like talking about her past, let alone telling me her last name. I only managed to get her religion out of her by seeing her reading a battered Bible." she paused, letting out a breath. "Might I ask your name?"

"John Brown, ma'am."

"Well, John, you must meet her, I'm sure she'll be delighted." Ms. Hyuaba turned to the rest of the group. "Anyone else?"

"The rest of my employees must set up cameras and microphones in hotspots." Naru said before anyone else could speak up. "We will meet... Emi," Mai noted how he seemed slightly uncomfortable saying her first name rather than addressing her by her forename. "Later."

"Certainly." Ms. Hyuaba said as she bowed slightly. Straitening, she smiled. "Dinner will be at six. Then you will be able to meet the rest the children residing here." With a smile from Ms. Hyuaba and a wave from John, the two left, no doubt heading to Emis room. At Narus orders, Monk dragged Ayako out to set up equipment. As soon as she was sure everyone who had left were a good distance away, Mai whipped around, hands on her hips, and glared at Naru.

"Why didn't you let the rest of us speak up? I wanted to meet Emi!"

"I don't believe that was a good idea." Naru replied simply, folding his hands.

"Why not?" Mai demanded.

"Think about it, Mai." Naru said. "The only new people Emi has seen were doctors, psychiatrists, and police officers. Two of which didn't believe in her supposed psychic abilities and the other who took away her freedom to the outside. If we all barged in at once, wouldn't she feel a high level of hostility towards us?" when Mai said nothing, Naru continued. "Now that I know that she is Catholic, I think she will connect the easiest to John, a priest. Once she talks to him, I think we can begin to introduce each of us to her while she is comfortable knowing that we are here to help her, not harm her. Understand?" Mai said nothing for a moment, before defiantly crossing her arms and plopping into a nearby chair.

"I hate it when you're right."

"Then you must hate me all the time," Naru said as he turned back to a monitor, smirking. "Because I am right all the time." This sent Mai into a frenzy of how much of a narcissistic jerk Naru was, sending an onslaught of insults his way. Naru ignored this, and promptly ordered her to make him tea, which made her insult him even further before Mai finally complied with his request, and went to make his tea.

Lin sat at his computer, shaking his head in irritation at the two's arguments, and continued to promptly type away.

o.0.o.0.o

**And thats it! So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Eh-ish? Tell me. ^.^**

**Seriously, do tell, this is new for me, and I'm hoping that I can receive some constructive criticism. But be nice! Like all people out there, I don't like flamings. AT ALL.**

**So, read, review, and stay tuned!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	2. File 9: Trust Me, They're Here Part 2

**Hey! Hows it going? Good? Great!**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Nine_

_Believe Me, They're Here_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai put on an overly cheery smile as she passed Naru his tea. He looked up, slightly suspicious of the action since she was raging just minutes earlier, but said nothing. While he drank his tea, Mai slipped out the door, a tray in hand with three teacups and a pot of boiling water. This was the perfect plan! She would go into Emis room, and offer tea to John, hopefully able to talk to Emi for a few minutes, and get to know her. And Naru always says she's stupid! Ha!

She stopped, about two or three doors from base, and realized something. She had no idea _where _Emis room was at the moment.

...

Maybe this _wasn't _such a perfect plan.

"No matter," she muttered as she headed downstairs. "I'll just ask Ms. Hyuaba." She made her way downstairs, with hope of finding into the runner of the foster care, but instead heard a familiar voice with a certain Kansai accent. She turned towards the direction of Johns voice, and smiled. Maybe she didn't need help after all!

Mai knocked on the door, and the door was answered by a tall-a few inches above Naru-girl with long brown hair, electric purple highlights running through it. Her bangs where swept off to the side, slightly covering her left, light blue eye, the other coffee brown one staring at Mai curiously. A black-knit beanie sat loosely on her head, while fingerless black gloves covered her hands. She was wearing jeans with frayed edges and a hole above the knee on the left leg and another hole over the knee on the right one. Her shirt was a simple aquamarine tee, and a crystal pendant hung around her neck. Finally, a silver chain was hooked to her belt loop on her hip, connecting to something resting in her pocket.

"Are you new here?" Emi asked curiously.

"No, I'm Mai, a part of SPR." Mai answered happily. A small smile appeared on Emis' face.

"You're with Father Brown? That's great!" Emi opened the door wider, allowing the brunette to enter the room. She noticed John shaking his head slightly.

"Emi, I told you many times that you can call me John." he said. Mai also noted that Emi used the same formality with him as Naru did.

"Mmm... Nope!" Emi said with a smile.

"I came to offer you guys some tea." Mai said as she placed the tray on the bedside table. She began to pour a cup for John and herself, looking up to Emi. She waved her hand.

"Nah, not a big fan." Emi said. "Sorry." she smiled again, and Mai tried to figure out wether or not it was fake to humor her and John, or if it was real. As far as she could tell, her happiness was very much real, far more real than it was in that picture. She hopped onto her bed, and Mai took a look around the room.

It was very plain, but a few things distinguished what she liked to do. There was a skateboard mounted on the wall, with a black shoulder bag hanging from a hook on the back of the door. The closet door was askew, and Mai noticed a few jeans and T-shirts of different colors hanging from hangers. Some converses littered the closet floor, and a light blue sweatshirt hung from the doorknob. She noticed several different books lying on the floor, most in Japanese, but two in languages she didn't really recognize.

"Ms. Hyuaba wants us to learn three different languages, because colleges supposedly like it when you're bilingual." Emi said, answering Mais questions before she could ask. "It's mandatory we know Japanese and English, but she allows the third to be that of our choice. I chose German."

"You must be very determined," Mai said, looking over books on the shelf: _Pre-College Calculus, Twelfth Grade Honors Science, Advanced Literature, Pre-College History of the World, An Intermediates Guide to Technology, Advanced Forensics, Criminology..._ "Are you currently studying all these subjects?"

"Yep." she laid back on her bed. "I plan on getting a free ride to college."

"Might I ask how old you are?" John asked.

"Sure. I'm sixteen." Mai and John looked up at her in slight surprise. She looked like she was nineteen! Emis' eyebrow quirked upward slightly. "What? Appearances can be deceiving, right?"

"You're younger than Mai!" John said, pointing to the said seventeen-year-old.

"So?" Emi shrugged. The conversation was interrupted suddenly from the walkie-talkie in Johns hand. He answered it.

"Yes?"

"Father Brown, would you please tell Mai to return to base, and stop pestering Emi?" Naru said. Mai could almost imagine the smirk on his face, knowing that he had figured out her plan.

"Pestering?!" Mai exclaimed. "I'm-"

"She's not pestering me, Oliver." John and Mai stopped, staring wide-eyed at the girl as they heard the clattering of a tea glass on the other end. As far as they knew, only the members of SPR knew of who Naru really was. Mai was certain that John didn't tell her, the blond priest just didn't do stuff like that. Almost moments later, Lin opened the door, and walked in. Emi jumped up and glanced at Mai and John nervously.

"Naru would like to see you." he glanced from John and Mai to Emi. "_All _of you." Emi opened her mouth to most likely protest, but John just placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and steered her towards the door. Emi shrugged his hand off, crossed her arms, glared holes into the back of Lins head, and followed him to base.

As they entered, they saw Monk and Ayako standing off to the side, their argument ending abruptly as Emi entered the room. Mai could practically see the walls of defiance forming around her. Naru looked up from his lap, hands folding, thinking intently as he stared at Emi.

"How did you know?"

"What? Your name? That _is _your name, right? You're Oliver Davis, an extremely famous psychic from England." Emi crossed her arms and glared at the ground. "I know I'm right. I'm never wrong when it comes to these things."

"You're correct." Naru said finally. "But how much do you know?"

"... Not a lot, really." Emi said truthfully. "Sometimes I just get snippets of things here and there, like names and ages. It happens completely on random, with random people. You just happened to be one of those people, I guess. For instance," she waved her arm in the direction of Ayako and Monk. "I have no idea who they are, but I keep on getting the phrase 'old married couple'." she shrugged. "No idea why." Mai and John blinked, before trying to hide their laughter, for fear of enraging Ayako.

"What can you do?" Naru asked. Emi shrugged.

"Seeing ghosts. But I guess that just comes with the package, huh?" she plopped down on the couch that was graciously provided by Ms. Hyuaba. "Astro-Projection, I'm pretty good at that."

"Have you ever performed a seance?" Naru asked.

"Nope." Emi answered.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Well, between you an me," Emi crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and put on a very serious look. "I play a _mean _harmonica." There was a long silence as Naru stared at her seriously. Emi blinked. "I was _kidding. _Damn, you're so serious. But if you must know, I'm about as musically gifted as a banshee." Emi tipped her head back and blew on her bangs, watching in amusement as they fluttered in the air before settling gracefully back into their original spot.

"I meant, do you have anymore psychic abilities?" Naru asked, becoming irritated with the girl in front of him.

"Oh, _that!" _Emi said, as if just realizing it. "Sorry Oliver, oh wait, _Naru, _but that's my own little secret." a catlike grin formed on her face. "Don't we all have them?" Before Naru could ask another question, an irritating beeping began to ring throughout the room, and Emi looked down at her ankle. Her eyebrows furrowed together as a scowl formed on her face.

"What is that?" Monk asked.

"The cops." Emi said as she pulled op her pant leg and smacked something on the tracker around her ankle. It continued beeping. "They installed an alarm on this thing to alert me that today was the day that they were going to check and make sure my terribly schizophrenic mind didn't decide to beat the living shit outta anymore children." her voice dripped with sarcasm as she got up and stretched. "Back to my room I go. Nice talking to ya." she placed her hands into her pockets, blew her bangs of her forehead with a huff, and walked out as they settled back over her forehead.

o.0.o.0.o

Emi glared at her plate of food, refusing to touch it.

"Emi, dear, please eat." Ms. Hyuaba pleaded with the girl. Emi just continued to glare. Eleven other children had begun to filter into the room, and Ms. Hyuaba took this as a chance to introduce them to SPR. "Everyone, please state your names, one at a time for our guests." the eldest boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes stepped forward.

"My name is Ao." he said, before taking his place next to Emi. Four small kids, two boys and girls, with black hair and emerald eyes came forward.

"I'm Rika!" cried one, "And these are my fellow quads, Minori, Taro, and Shiro!" each child bowed at mention of their name. Another girl, presumably the next oldest after Emi and Ao, with long chestnut hair in thick waves came forward, a notebook in hand. She wrote something down on the paper, and showed it to SPR.

"_It's a pleasure to meet you!" _she flipped the page over._ "My name is Saki, and I have been mute since birth, so I write all my thoughts on this notebook here." _she flipped it again, and smiled. "_I hope you enjoy your stay with us. :)" _And yes, there really was a little smiley face written next to the message. She sat across from Emi. Two more kids came forward, maybe thirteen. The boy had glasses and reading a book.

"I'm Touko, and this is Osamu. He always has his nose in a book, so don't be surprised if he doesn't notice you until you're leaving." two boys came and plopped themselves into their chairs, obviously distinct opposites, having a glaring contest. The youngest girl came forward, and banged their heads together.

"Quit fighting and introduce yourself!" she demanded, the pink bows in her hair bouncing as she placed her hands on her hips, making it extremely hard for everyone to take her seriously.

"Naoki." the blond boy said.

"Kyo." grumbled the other.

"I'm Kotone! Pleased to meet you!" the young girl said.

"Are these all of them?" Mai asked. "They're adorable!"

"No, Hana is missing." Ms. Hyuaba said worriedly. "She's usually so punctual, being the youngest. I have no idea where-" Ms. Hyuaba was cut off as a shrill scream echoed through the house.

"Hana!" Emi yelled as she jumped up, her chair clattering to the ground. She bolted out of the room, followed by Mai.

"Mai!" she heard Monk cry her name out, but ignored it as she followed Emi up the stairs. She skidded to a stop as Emi halted in the hallway. When Mai came to the next to Emi, she understood why. A tall black mass stood over the form of a small girl. Blood dripped from the back of the girls head, and Mai pushed the worse case scenario out of her head.

A shrill whistle echoed through the air, and Mai put on a victory grin as Lins' shiki burst forward and pierced the monster. But the grin quickly turned to horror as the holes that the shiki made closed up as quickly as they were made. In fact, it only seemed to amuse the monster as it turned, and set it's red eyes on the team.

"Mai, Emi, run!" John cried out as the rest of SPR was brought up and slammed into the wall behind them. Mai was seriously considering the idea, but realized she couldn't move her feet.

"Can you move?" Emi muttered.

"No." she whispered

"Kneel down slowly." Emi instructed. Mai did as told, although it felt as if it was taking much more energy than it should. She sat on the ground, and watched as Emi stared down the spirit in front of her. He hair seemed to flutter off her shoulders a little bit, like a slight breeze had blew around her. Mai choked back a shriek as Emis' body crumbled forward, laying motionless next to her. Did the ghost do something to her?!

Mai looked up to perform the Nine Cuts, arm raised to attack, but she stopped before she could utter the first syllable. She could see Emi right in front of her, except she was silver, glowing, and the strange, unseeable wind still blew around her, moving her hair.

The entity seemed to flinch, but nonetheless took several steps forward, until it and the ghostly Emi where face to face. Even at her full height, the entity seemed to tower over Emi, and had to bend down to look her directly in the eye. Emi had a glare on that put even Lin to shame, and Mai knew well that the Chinese man was a master of the art of glaring. Emi then lashed out, punching the entity where it's stomach would have been, and kept her fist within the black fog.

The entity jumped back from her touch, turning, looking around wildly before making a beeline for the unconscious child in the room. Emi rushed forward, and just as a hand was about to enclose around Hanas' throat, Emi _ran through _the entity, it shrieked, and disappeared, it's red eyes oddly lingering for a moment after it's body had disappeared.

Everyone dropped to the ground, and stared as Emi lingered for a moment. Her ghostly form became an orb, and whizzed back into her body. It took a minute, before Emi pushed herself from the ground, and shook her head, as if trying to clear fuzziness in her brain. She hopped up, and ran to Hana, Ayako close behind.

"Try not to move her head!" Ayako ordered as she felt the small girls wrists for a pulse. "Someone call 1-1-9!"

"On it!" Monk yelled as he rushed down the hallway. Emi was looking fearfully from the girl on the floor to Ayako, as if hoping that she could somehow wake Hana up.

"She has a pulse, but I'm not sure if she has a concussion or not." Ayako confirmed.

"Thank god." Emi muttered, clutching the small girls hand. Her eyes widened. "The cops will be here. What am I supposed to tell them? The minute they find out that I'm a suspected schizo, they'll arrest me no doubt."

"They can't." Naru said. he pointed a little down the hallway, everyone seeing a small red light. "That's one of our cameras. We have the entire thing on tape."

"The whole thing?" Mai asked. "Well, there goes the teenage-girl-telekinesis theory."

"Wonderful observation, Mai." Naru said sarcastically. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking deeply. "Now go make me some tea. I want to further question Emi and the extent of her abilities, so we'll head back to base. Monk and John will stay with Hana, and I want Ms. Matsuzaki to make charms for everyone in the household. Lin will review the footage from this spot, along with anything else we happened to miss."

Everyone nodded, and Mai hurried to the kitchen, not wanting to hear the complaints of her boss when she didn't get his tea fast enough.

o.0.o.0.o

**All done! I don't really have much to say, really. So, uh... read, review, and stay tuned! ^.^**

**Behind the Names:**

**Emi:  
From Japanese _恵 (e)_ "blessing, favour" or _絵 (e)_ "picture" combined with _美 (mi)_ "beautiful".  
**

**Ao:  
From Japanese _葵_ "hollyhock, althea" or _碧_ "blue".  
**

**Rika:  
From Japanese _莉 (ri)_ "jasmine" or _理 (ri)_ "truth" combined with _子 (ko)_ "child".  
**

**Minori:  
Means "truth" in Japanese  
**

**Taro:  
From Japanese _太 (ta)_ "thick, big" and _郎 (rou)_ "son".  
**

**Shiro:  
From Japanese _四 (shi)_ "four" and _郎 (rou)_ "son". This was traditionally a name for the fourth son.  
**

**Saki:  
From Japanese _咲 (sa)_ "blossom" and _希 (ki)_ "hope".  
**

**Touko:  
From Japanese _月 (tsuki)_ "moon" and _子 (ko)_ "child".  
**

**Osamu:  
Means "discipline, study" in Japanese.  
**

**Naoki:  
From Japanese _直 (nao)_ "honest, straight" and _樹 (ki)_ "tree".  
**

**Kyo:  
From Japanese _協_ "cooperation", _協_ "capital", _郷_ "village" or _杏_ "apricot".  
**

**Kotone:  
From Japanese _琴 (koto)_ "harp, lute" and _音 (ne)_ "sweet sound".  
**

**Hana:  
From Japanese _花_ or _華_ which both mean "flower".  
**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	3. File 9: Trust Me, They're Here Part 3

**Not much to say, really.**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Nine_

_Trust Me, They're Here_

o.0.o.0.o

"Catch anything interesting, Boss?" Emi asked as she walked into SPRs' base, holding a sketchpad. Everyone glanced up at the girl, who stretched, and put on a cheeky smile.

"Nothing, except for the fact that you were roaming around as an astro-projection." Naru answered. "Do you realize how much energy that must take?"

"Why do you think I slept in till noon?" Mai checked the clock, and saw that it was 12:15. Emi plopped down on the couch. "It's not like I have anywhere important to go. Oh, wait," Emi made sure to turn the sarcasm on. "I _can't _go anywhere."

"So... why'd you call Naru 'boss'? Mai asked after a short silence.

"Because, as of today, Emi will be SPRs new psychic medium." Naru stated bluntly, not turning away from the computer screen. Everyone turned towards the now youngest member of SPR, who looked up, closed her eyes, and flashed the peace sign. "Since Ms. Hara will be out of commission for a while, we will need someone else to sense spirits for us, and it seems that, besides astro-projection, Emi seems to possess some... unique abilities."

"Unique abilities, huh?" Ayako asked turning to Emi. "Fill us in."

"Nope." Emi smiled. "It's a secret!"

"Did you really astro-project yourself all night?" Mai asked curiously.

"Better to be safe than sorry." Em shrugged, then clenched her fist in front of her with a determined expression. "And as the oldest kid, I've gotta enforce that term."

"Emi, since you seemed to be most in tune with the spirit, what can you tell us about it?" Naru asked.

"It's a lady, no doubt." Emi answered almost immediately. "An _old, _like, grandma old, lady. But she's not exactly _grandmotherly. _In fact, she's the exact opposite." Emi began counting traits off her fingers. "Stiff, strict, _super _controlling, and, man oh man, she has a temper."

"Anything else?"

"She has a tendency to play mind games. She likes to mess with people before she does something. In fact," Emi looked up. "She's trying to play games with me right now."

"Really?" Monk asked.

"Sure. It's like a routine with her. Stalk, meddle, attack. She followed me around for a few days, getting to know my routine. She begins to mess with your head, appearing out of the corner of your eye, following you around, moving your objects. Then she attacks. Small at first, pushes down stairs, tripping, objects 'accidentally' falling. Then it's a full onslaught, like what happened to Hana."

"But it doesn't make sense!" Mai exclaimed. "What we saw... I'm not even sure that was human, let alone a full grown woman!"

"Darkness and bitterness has been with her for years. That's what happens when you hold stuff inside you like that." Emi said.

"Aren't you worried, Emi?" John ask. "I mean, it looks like she's going after you next. And if she's twice as bad as she was with Hana..."

"Do you think that, after what you saw," Emi looked up, a stern look on her face. "That she can get twenty feet within my radius without me knowing? She'll be thrown into a weak mess over and over again. She can't touch me."

"So then what will she do to get back at you?" Mai asked. Emi looked up, and passed her the sketchpad. As soon as Mai touched the paper, however, she dropped the book, almost as if it burned her. Taking a few steps away, and covering her mouth with her hand, she looked up at Emi.

"Mai, what is it?" Monk asked, alarmed. Mai shook her head.

"That thing... it burned me or something."

"Let me see your hands." Naru demanded. Slowly reaching out her hands, she unfurled them, showing angry red blemishes across her palms. Naru turned on Emi. "Why did you give that to her?"

"How was I supposed to know? I knew that there was crazy psychic vibes coming from you guys, but I assumed it was you! You never told me you had a medium here!"

"Oh, I'm not a medium." Mai said. "I just have some premonitions and can tell who's good and who's bad."

"Premonitions?" Emi asked.

"You know, in dreams."

"Huh." Emi said, leaning back. "So what did you feel when you touched that? What emotions?"

"A lot of anger. I think that she's mad about us being here, and she doesn't like that you aren't following what she says."

"That about hits the nail on the head." Emi shrugged.

"So whats so important about this sketchpad that you felt it was necessary to show us?" Naru asked. Emi picked up the sketchpad, and stared at it in her hands.

"I picked up on sketching a few months ago. It was fun, and I've been flying through sketchpads like crazy. This is a fresh one, yet to be taken out of the bag. I wanted to do a quick outline before I came here this morning, and this is what I saw when I opened it." she flipped the cover over, and Mai gasped. Although it was hard to make out between the lines of blood trailing down her face, it was Ms. Hyuaba, her head gone, laying off to the side of the body. "And this," this time it was Hana and Kotone, tied to a wooden steak that was on fire. "And finally this," the final one was everyone else, the elder one's hanging from nooses from a large tree, the younger one's with large gashes from a knife. Everyone stared at the pages horror. Mai, shaking like crazy, sat down on the couch next to Emi.

"She's getting to you by attacking everyone else." Mai whispered, tears beginning to fall. "That's horrible."

"Do you think this spirit will live up to these warnings?" Monk asked. "I mean, there's no doubt that she intends to physically harm everyone that you're close to, maybe even kill them."

"Here's something I noticed that was weird." Ayako took the sketchpad from Emi, and held it up. "The mute girl wasn't in here."

"Saki?" Emi asked.

"Yeah, that's it." Ayako said, snapping her fingers. "She wasn't drawn in any of these pictures. None of them."

"So what're you saying?" Emi asked, suddenly defensive.

"I'm saying, maybe Saki has something to do with the haunting." Ayako shrugged. "Maybe this spirit followed her here, or she has some form of PK that no one knows about. It's not like she can exactly _say _what she wants."

"Saki has nothing to so with it." Emi growled. "And I can prove it." She left, no doubt searching for the mute girl. While she was gone, Mai found herself getting sleepy...

o.0.o.0.o

_Mai was standing in the corner of a dining room, the one that was in Ms. Hyuabas house, no doubt. Gene stood next to her, saying nothing, taking in the room for himself. It seemed older, both in looks and feeling. Heavy tension filled the air, so thick Mai practically choked on it. _

_She looked up, and saw several children line up into the room, all looking somewhat familiar. Girls in dresses with bows in their hair, boys stiffly standing in jackets with small ties. It would've been picture perfect, if not for the scared, stiff looks on their faces. _

_That's when it hit Mai._

_These children practically had the same looks as the one's currently residing in the house. Of course, the Emi look-alike without highlights, and the boys with hair cut close instead of some of the more popular, long, shaggy look to it. Sure, there were enough differences to tell that they where different people, but the closeness was just to coincidental to be overlooked._

_Slowly, the doors creaked open, and the line of teens and children made quick, last-minute glances to make sure that everything was in order, before standing strait and tall again. A woman, perhaps around her early sixties or so, walked in, her hair in a tight bun and eyes that seemed to see everything at once. With an approving nod, she sat in her chair at the head of the table, and the kids followed suite, each one sitting slowly into their chairs._

_"Miyuki," the women ordered, her voice crisp and sharp. Slowly, her lips turned into a cruel smirk. "Pour the tea."_

_"But Lady Akuma," the Saki look-alike said, shivering. "My condition will cause me to spill the tea..."_

_"Perhaps you didn't hear me, so I shall repeat myself." the woman, obviously Akuma. "Miyuki, pour the tea." the words were lined with icy coldness as she spoke, and Miyuki slowly rose, and grabbed the teapot. Mai noticed her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Was this the condition she talked about?_

_ Slowly, she made her way around the table, carefully pouring tea into the teacups. She was doing a good job, despite her shaky hands, until she got to Akuma. As she poured the warm liquid into the cup, her hands failed her, and a small bit of tea dropped onto the tablecloth._

_"Oh!" she cried in shock as her hands failed her again, and she dropped the pot altogether. To Mai, it felt that it was slow motion as the pot fell, the top coming off. The liquid fell onto Akuma, and the pot rolled off her lap, shattering as it hit the floor._

_Silence filled the room as Akuma took in the mess. Tears rolled out of Miyukis eyes, fearfully glancing between Akuma, the shattered porcelain on the floor, and the door._

_"Why aren't you running?!" Mai asked, even though she knew that the Saki look-alike couldn't hear her. But the events continued on._

_Akuma snapped her head to the side, and smacked Miyuki across the face, with enough force to knock her to the ground. As a red handprint appeared on her cheek, Akuma continued to kick the girl in the stomach with much more force than needed._

_"Get up." growled Akuma. Miyuke, a bruised mess on the floor, rolled over, and pushed herself to her hands and knees. Not fast enough for Akuma, she grabbed a fistful of her hair, and yanked her to her feet, receiving a small cry of alarm. This earned the poor girl another punch to the stomach. "You will accept your punishment." Mai looked up at Gene._

_"There's more punishment?" she asked in alarm, watching as Akuma dragged the stumbling Miyuki out the door by her hair, her chestnut colored eyes pleading for help from the Ao look-alike. Once the door had shut, and Akuma was a good distance away, the Ao look-alike slammed his fist into the table, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes._

_"Fret not, Haruto," the Emi look-alike said as she placed a comforting, sisterly hand over the Ao look-alikes clenched hand. "Miyuki is so strong, she will live to see you again."_

_"Did you not see her now? She was terrified of being in that room again." Haruto clenched his fist tighter. "Why, why does that demon-lady treat her so?"_

_"All of us have been in the room for a period of time, Haruto."_

_"But not as much as she. Every other week, she's placed in there. I think Akuma makes sure that she can have a reason to lock Miyuki away. If there is a God, then he should just have that woman killed before she finds out."_

_"Trust me, Haruto," the Emi look-alike said. "I'd rather die than have Akuma find out about your relationship."_

_Mai blinked in surprise as the image faded away. She turned to Gene, who shook his head._

_"It's time to wake up, Mai."_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai jolted awake, slightly surprised to find a blanket over her. She glanced around, and saw that everyone was gone, minus Naru.

"So you're finally awake." Naru noted, not turning from the monitors.

"Thanks for pointing that out." Mai muttered under her breath.

"You're welcome." Naru said smugly. Mai began to wonder wether or not Naru would see it coming if she chucked her pillow at him. Deciding against it, she got up and stretched.

"Where is everyone?"

"Monk is performing an exorcism in the dining room while John is performing exorcisms on everyone in the house. Ms. Matsuzaki is watching over Hana, and Lin is changing the video cartridges on the cameras."

"And Emi...?"

"Has retired for the night."

"Wait, night?" Mai exclaimed as she looked at the clock. 7:45. "I've been asleep all day?!"

"Yes, so I hope whatever dream you had is a significant help to make up for your absence."

"Oh yeah!" Mai said as she snapped her fingers. "Is there any records of an 'Akuma' living in the house?"

"Akuma...?" Naru trailed off as he typed a few words into his computer. Nothing came up.

"What about old family files? Could Ms. Hyauba have them?" Mai asked.

"Perhaps you should tell me what you dreamed of before we go pestering for files."

"Pestering...?" Mai trailed off and sighed under Narus cold look. "I dreamed of something that happened in the past. It was the previous owner-I think?- named Akuma. I guess she ran a foster care or something... but it was strange."

"What?" Naru asked as Mai tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"All the kids that were living there currently, they nearly looked the same as those who are residing here now."

"Are you sure you aren't placing them in the dream like you had placed us in a dream?" Naru asked, referring to a previous case which was titled 'The Cursed House'.

"No. They looked a lot alike, but with enough differences to tell them apart. Almost like they could be siblings. They were definitely their own person."

"Okay. Go on."

"They were sitting down for a meal, and this Akuma lady was like Emi described her, stiff and controlling. After they sat down, she asked the girl who looked like Saki to pour tea for the whole table. Her name was Miyuki. She told her that she couldn't pour the tea without spilling it because she had a condition that caused her hands to shake uncontrollably. While she was pouring the tea, she spilled a little, and then dropped the entire pot altogether. It spilled all over Akumas lap, and then the teapot broke." Mai took a deep breath. "And like Emi said, a huge temper. She flipped out, and started to beat Miyuki until she was on the floor, and that still didn't stop her. After," Mai swallowed back tears. "After she was done, she yanked Miyuki up by her hair, and dragged her out of the room to receive 'further punishment'."

"Is that it?" Naru asked.

"No. The two who looked like Emi and Ao talked a little bit after Miyuki and Akuma left. The one who looked like Ao was named 'Haruto'. I didn't catch the Emi look-alikes name." Mai took in a breath of air. "Haruto didn't like Akuma at all. He referred to her as 'Demon Lady' and said that 'if there was a God, then he should have that woman killed'... it's not like I could blame him though. I think her beating them was an everyday thing, especially with Miyuki, for some reason. And apparently she locked them in a room for days on end."

"Anything else?"

"Haruto and Miyuki were in a relationship that Akuma didn't know about, and nobody wanted to tell Akuma about it." there was a pause.

"Did you find out where this room is?"

"The one where she locked them away? No, I woke up before I could see that happen." Naru took his chin in his hand, and sat thoughtfully, processing the information that Mai had given him. "Does this help the case, Naru?"

"Yes. Now we can follow up on this lead, and get more information on Akuma." he stood up and walked a few steps towards the door. "I'm going to see if Ms. Hyauba has any records on previous owners. If not, then I will send you with Father Brown to the town archives." Before Naru could reach the door, however, it swung open, revealing John. He was panting, still in his priest attire, clutching his bible.

Miyuk

"Guys, we've got a problem." he said.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Mai asked, jumping up.

"Saki is missing!"

o.0.o.0.o

**Lol, me and my addiction to cliffhangers. XD**

**Behind the names:**

**Akuma:**

**Japanese for 'mean lady'.**

**Miyuki:**

**From Japanese ****_美 _****_(mi)_**** "beautiful" and ****_月 _****_(zuki)_**** "moon".**

**Haruto:**

**From Japanese ****_陽 _****_(haru)_**** "sun, sunlight", ****_遥 _****_(haru)_**** "distant" or ****_晴 _****_(haru)_**** "clear up" combined with ****_斗 _****_(to)_****, which refers to the constellation Ursa Major, or ****_翔 _****_(to)_**** "soar, fly".**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	4. File 9: Trust Me, They're Here Part 4

**Hello again! ^.^ I'm updating this early 'cause I'm bored.**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Nine_

_Trust Me, They're Here_

o.0.o.0.o

"Oh my God..." Ms. Hyuaba gasped as she looked through Sakis room. Mai and Naru had quickly filled in the rest of the team except for Emi, who was already with Ms. Hyuaba, of Mais dream, and stopped in front of the mute girls room. Emi was already there, surveying the area. It was a mess, an obvious struggle had happened. Sakis notebook was on the ground, pages ripped from the bindings and shredded, almost as if Saki had used it for a defense mechanism against the spirit. Writing was scrawled across the room in red ink, all over the wall, reading 'bad girl', 'accept your punishment', and most chilling was the message: 'This is what happens when no one obeys Akuma. Watch as they all die, Aya and Haruto.'

"Aya? Haruto?" Emi asked as she reached up to touch the names. She flinched before her fingers brushed it, and recoiled. "Who the heck is Aya and Haruto?"

"Haruto is the name of an orphan who lived here a while back." Mai said, remembering her dream. "Ms. Hyuaba, do you by any chance have records of a lady named 'Akuma'?"

"Akuma? Akuma..." Ms. Hyuaba trailed off before her eyes widened in surprise. "Akuma used to run a small orphanage here. She was famous for chaining up children in a dark room for days on end as a punishment. There was a rumor that she locked away a girl, and another orphan that lived with her was in a relationship. Supposedly, he and the eldest orphan hid away the younger children, and broke into the cell to rescue the girl. Akuma found out, and attempted to sabotage them by holding the captive girl hostage. The male lashed out, and killed Akuma before anything could happen. No one knows how she was killed, but after that the trio gathered up the youngsters and ran off." Ms. Hyauba smiled. "Rather romantic, don't you think?"

"Do you have those files?" Naru asked. "They might be helpful in finding Saki."

"Yes, I have tons of files of recent house owners in my office. I don't know which is which, though, so you might have to go through a couple to get to Akuma."

"We'll gladly do it. And I suggest you gather up everyone except for Emi and Ao, and leave this place."

"Why Ao?" Ayako asked in alarm. "I mean, I understand Emi, since she can protect herself, but why him? He's just... normal."

"Because as far as Akuma knows, Ao is Haruto, Saki is Miyuki, and Emi is Aya." Naru said, as if talking to a small child. "And if the rumors and Mais dream are accurate, then it can easily be assumed that Miyuki escaped with Aya while Haruto killed Akuma. Akuma doesn't care about everyone else, only the three who managed to get out of her clutches _and _took her from this world. She wants revenge on _them. _Emi is only up a larger target more because she has the ability to fight back even more than she did when Akuma thought she was 'Aya'."

"What am I going to tell Ao?" Emi groaned as she stepped out of the room. She leaned against the wall, and tilted her head back with her eyes closed. "He's going to flip."

"On a scale of one to ten, how mad is he going to be?" Monk asked in a joking manner, hoping to lighten the mood slightly.

"Fifteen." Emi said immediately and very seriously. Monk flinched, obviously not expecting the number. Emi looked forward at everyone. "He and Saki are in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. If he doesn't kill one of you, I'd be surprised, because he-"

"What did you say?" Mai asked, making sure she heard her correctly. Emi raised an eyebrow.

"That Ao and Saki are in a relationship...? I know that it might seem weird, since we practically treat each other like family, but I guess something sparked between them. Why?"

"Haruto and Miyuki were in a relationship in the past!" Mai exclaimed. "Do you think history can repeat itself?"

"That's stupid." Naru said immediately. "Did you ever remember having a day that was exactly the same as another? They may seems similar, but are never the same."

"But it is eerily similiar." Ayako shivered. Emi blinked.

"Can someone tell me what the heck is going on?!" she exclaimed. Everyone sweatdropped, realizing that Emi didn't know about the dream Mai had.

o.0.o.0.o

_Mai was standing in a room that was just cement blocks, all of them crumbling. There was a doorway with a wooden door over it, no windows, no light. Sobbing could be heard, and chains coming to their limits, making a clanking sound before jangling back to the floor. Mai took a few steps closer, and gasped, stumbling back, thinking she could see Saki._

_But upon looking close, she realized that it was not the mute girl, but Miyuki, who sobbed uncontrollably as the chains around her wrists jangled with every movement. The door creaked open, and Akuma strode inside, hands hidden behind her back. She loomed over the terrified girl, a sick, cruel smile on her face._

_"Your little lover is coming after you." Akuma said._

_"H-how did-"_

_"I know? Simple, little one," she grabbed a fistful of Miyukis hair, and pulled a pistol out from behind her back. "You can hide nothing from Lady Akuma." Mai gasped, and covered her face with her hands as a shot rang out._

_"Mai, it's okay." Gene whispered assuringly, suddenly appearing by her side. "It wasn't Miyuki." Slowly, Mai uncovered her face, and saw a very shocked Akuma, her hand bleeding, and the gun laying on the ground by her feet. A newly made bullet hole was in the wall, but other than Akumas hand, no one was harmed. Slowly, Mai turned her attention towards the door, where Haruto stood, bebe gun in hand, pointed at Akuma._

_"Release Miyuki." he ordered._

_"Or what?" sneered Akuma as she gripped Miyukis hair tighter. Harutos response was the clicking of the gun loading. Slowly, Akuma came to her senses, let go of Miyuki, and moved a step or two away._

_"Aya." Haruto said. The Emi-lookalike ran into the room, and began to unlock the chains on Miyukis wrists. The girl fell into Ayas arms, a sobbing mess._

_"You where in on this too?!" exclaimed Akuma. "I ought to lock every one of you in here together and throw the key down the well!"_

_"You will do no such thing." Aya said as she got up, supporting Miyuki. "The police are coming, you know. They will arrest you for the murder of Koji. Our lost sister, who can't leave with us today."_

_"And what are you going to do? Run away together and take care of the children? How terribly sweet, my stomach is turning." sneered Akuma._

_"You will be put on trial, and hung for what you have done." Aya said, her voice cold as ice. "You'll pay for your crimes."_

_"I don't plan on going through all that legal trouble." Akuma said as she grabbed her pistol. Haruto tensed, finger on the trigger. "I will die right here, and I won't stop hunting you until all three of you are dead by my own hand." She took the pistol, and aimed it over her heart, pulling the trigger and falling forward, blood pooling under her figure. Akuma was dead. Gene took Mais hand, and lead her away from the scene as Aya, Haruto, and Miyuki left the dreaded cell._

_"You might want to close your eyes, or something. We're going to be moving forward in time, and it can be a little sickening." Gene warned before the scenes began to speed up into a blur. It was nauseating for Mai, but she seemed unable to look away. Slowly, time slowed down, and it came to a stop. The world swayed for a moment, before she was able to focus on where she was. She was in... her room?_

_"Gene?" she asked, turning to her spirit guide._

_"I was trying to show you what happened to Saki yesterday, but it seemed I went to the exact present, and you're an astro-projection." he sighed. "Nevertheless, I can tell you a little information about where Saki is."_

_"Why can't you just take me?" Mai asked, although unsure she even wanted to find out if that horrible room was still in existence or not._

_"Akuma isn't going to make the same mistake twice. She's guarding that room for all she's worth." Gene said. "Search for the basement, Mai."_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai awoke from the dream/astro-projection feeling exhausted. And she was only projecting for a minute. She wondered how in the world Emi managed to do it for hours without collapsing in the middle of the day. "_She must have gotten a lot of practice to handle it so well." _she thought as she got dressed. She yawned as she entered base. "Good morn- Hey!" she exclaimed the last part as Ao rudely shoved past her.

"What the (_insert appropriate word here) _hell?" he demanded, glaring at Naru. "Ms. Hyuaba hired you to get rid of the ghost, not to get Emi into deeper trouble, not to get her to leave with everyone else, and not to get Saki to disappear! Why haven't you done your job and helped us?!"

"We've been doing our job." Naru answered cooly. "We've just run into some mishaps."

"People disappearing isn't just a 'mishap'!" Ao roared. "Saki could be hurt or dead, and none of you care! All you want to do is get in here, get your money, and get out! That's all you stupid fakes want!" A hand came up and snatched Aos' ear, twisting it painfully.

"Ow, Emi, damnit, let go!" Ao yelled as the older girl dragged the boy out of the room by his ear, the coldest look imaginable on her face. Everyone blinked.

"That girl has guts." Monk noted with a nod toward the door. "He looked ready to rip your head off, Naru."

"Mai," Naru passed her a file. "Tell me if this is Akuma and the children that were in your dream." Mai took the file, and looked at the first thing in the file. "Oh my god!" she took the picture out, and showed it to everyone else. "That's her." Mai pointed her out, and continued onto Miyuki and Haruto.

"My lord..." John said, studying the photo with the rest of the team. "That one is Aya? She could be Emis' sister!"

"Thats freaky..." Ayako shuddered. "Look at how similar they are to each other."

"Do you think it's a coincidence?" Monk asked. "I mean, I know that rebirth and reincarnation is believed in in some religions, but it was never proven to actually be true. Is it possible that it happened to them, and they were all drawn to each other because of that?"

"I don't get it, isn't reincarnation and rebirth the same thing?" Mai asked.

"Not particularly." Monk said. "Reincarnation when a indestructible, eternal, and personal element that moves on from one being to the next. This element is called atman, jiva, or simply 'soul', depending on the religion. Unlike rebirth, reincarnation is effected by how you lived in your previous life. If you were a good, kind person, you would be reborn into a wealthy or beautiful person. If you were bad, worst case scenario is being reborn as a rock."

"A rock?" Mai asked, trying to imagine that. "Yow."

"Rebirth is when somebody dies, and this causes the the continuation of the mental processes of the deceased person into a new body. The new person isn't identical to the one that left the previous body, but also does not have a completely different personality or become their own person."

"So then... is this possibly a case of reincarnation?" John asked.

"It may be." Monk said, considering the option.

"But how did it end up that every one of them ended up in the same place as those from their previous lives?" Ayako asked. "It can't just be a mere coincidence, can it?"

""Ao is ready to speak civilly with you all now!" Emi announced as she came in, and embarrassed-looking Ao close behind. "So what's this I'm hearing about all these coincidences?"

"Look at this, Emi, Ao." Naru passed the picture towards them, and they glanced at it. Emi smirked.

"Hey, Ao, do _you _remember dressing up in old time clothing and taking a black and white photo? I don't." Emi joked. Her face paled slightly, and she pointed something out to Ao. He looked closer, and turned away his head away, staring blankly at the wall.

"Do recognize someone, Emi?" Naru asked, staring seriously. She nodded slowly, and set the picture on the table, pointing to a small two-year-old.

"The spitting image of Aimi." Ao muttered.

"Aimi... I don't remember hearing about an Aimi." John said. "Where is she?"

"She's dead."

o.0.o.0.o

**Another cliffhanger! XD So, read, review, and stay tuned! **

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	5. File 9: Trust Me, They're Here Part 5

**Hello again! ^.^ I'm updating this early 'cause I'm bored.**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Nine_

_Trust Me, They're Here_

o.0.o.0.o

"Aimi, she's dead." Ao said slowly. "She died about a month ago?"

"You say that like you don't know." Naru said.

"Maybe I don't know." Ao shrugged, trying not to show any tears. "That girl was such a sweet kid." Ao shook his head, and sighed. "Could've attached herself to anyone, even someone like you. She didn't care about who you were or what you looked like, she just wanted to be your friend."

"Stop talking about her in past tense." Emi growled out slowly, eyes shaded and fists clenched at her sides. "Stop talking about Aimi like she... like she really is gone."

"Ms. Hyuaba didn't mention a death." Naru stated.

"No one wants to talk about little kids dying." Ao countered.

"But this would've helped our investigation." Naru said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How did she die?" Emi let out a long, low growl, as if warning anyone to keep talking about Aimi. Ao fell silent, turning his head to the side, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Emi," Naru turned towards the already seething girl. "_How did Aimi die?" _Emis head snapped up, anger burning in her eyes.

"Naru, I really think that you should drop the subject..." Mai said, her hand raised as is she was going to place a hand on Emis shoulder to keep her from killing Naru. Emi crossed her arms, and turned her head to the side.

"You are an unbearable asshole." she stated simply. The tension in the room suddenly became very thick. No one ever _dared _to call Naru such a name. Mai had thought of it, once or twice, but always decided against it, keeping her thoughts to herself. "And I certainly hope this isn't how you treat all your employees all the time, because then we'll be getting off to a _real _bad start." Her eyes turned back towards the narcissist who remained silent the entire time. "And I don't feel that I should want to kill my employer on the first day, right?"

"Then will you answer the question?" Naru asked.

"I dunno, when do I get a raise?" mischievous sparkled in the girls eyes, the anger washing away.

"Are you going to keep dodging the question?"

"Depends on when I get that raise!" Emi said, wagging her finger at him like he was a disobedient child.

"You do realize I could fire you if you don't show some form of respect." Naru said this more as a demand.

"And I hope you realize how much of a pain it would be to find another legit psychic with as much ability as me on any short notice. I've got nothing but time, Boss." Emi grinned a catlike grin. "You know, as soon as I get the tracker off."

"I had a dream last night." Mai said, deciding to cut in before Emi killed Naru or the other way around. "Turns out Akumas death wasn't a murder, but a suicide. She said she'd hunt Aya, Haruto, and Miyuki until she killed them with her own hands." she paused. "And we need to search the basement."

"The basement?" John repeated.

"Yeah. Gene said that was where we should search, but Akuma isn't making any mistakes. She's guarding that place like crazy."

"Speaking of which," Monk said. "We haven't seen a basement yet, have we?"

"No, Ms. Hyuaba said there wasn't one." Naru noted. "It was filled in with cement."

"There has to be one!" Mai exclaimed. "That's where Saki is!"

"Is there one?"

"Sure." Emi shrugged. "Me, Saki, and Ao came across it once in a really weird place."

"You know that gold knob over the sink that really has no reason to be there at all?" Ao spoke up. He didn't wait for an answer. "Well, it's actually a secret passage into the basement. Bad interior design choice, if you ask me."

"We're the three musketeers!" Emi declared. "Goin' on daring adventures!" Everyone sweatdropped as the girl flashed the peace sign.

"She's so random." muttered Ayako.

"Tell me about it." Ao mumbled in return. Emi bounced up.

"To the basement! I'll show that Akuma why she doesn't mess with my brothers girlfriend!" Emi shouted this while running out the door, leaving an embarrassed Ao trying to cover his reddening face with one hand.

o.0.o.0.o

The door opened slowly and creakily, almost as if a warning to SPR not to take another step unless they wanted to die. Leave it to Emi to be the first to boldly stomp down the stairs. Everyone else, some more nervously than others, came down the stairs after her. John was in his priest attire, ready to perform an exorcism at any given moment. Everyone else was wielding flashlights, looking at the hundreds of stones built into the handmade walls.

"There should be a secret room somewhere." Mai said. "I don't know where, though."

"Then we should check every one of these stones." Naru said, placing a hand on the one nearest to them. "One of them should be a hidden switch."

With some groans of protest, the group began to scale the walls, pulling at every stone, running their fingers along every crack. Seconds became minutes, and soon, minutes became hours. Nothing was found.

"Come on!" Ayako grumbled under her breath, examining her nails. "I broke a nail!"

"I'm surprised all this searching hasn't been hard on that brittle back of yours, hag." Monk snickered from beside the miko.

"Shut up, you old monk!" Ayako responded. Grumbling under her breath, she turned back towards the wall.

"I'm guessing you found nothing yet?" Emi asked. When no one said anything, Emi let out a long sigh.

"To bad we didn't have someone like that Oliver Davis guy you're always raving about." Ao said while nudging Emi reassuringly. "Bet he'd find her in a heartbeat."

"Yeah..." Emi trailed off, thinking intently. Everyone stopped for a moment, wondering if Emi would reveal Naru. She looked up at them, the dim light showing an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. "Mai," she said, standing up and stretching. "You may not be Oliver Davis, but I think you could be a big help."

"Me?" Mai pointed at herself. "What do you think I can do?" Emi reached into her pocket, and pulled out a pen. It was a nice pen, certainly not something you would get in a dollar store. She held it out to Mai.

"That was Sakis, me and Ao pooled out money together, and got it for her for Christmas. I may be able to sense the dead, but I can't sense anyone who's living. Trust me, I've tried when it came to hide and seek." she paused. "But I think you can."

"What, me? Oh, no, I told, you I just get premonitions and have crazy accurate instinct. Nothing else."

"If you can sense wether or not to trust people, then what's stopping you from sensing someone's aura entirely?" Emi asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"But what if Sakis...?" Mai trailed off, not wanting to rattle the girl in front of her.

"If she was, I would know, Short-Stop." Emi said seriously. Mai thought about this for a moment, and sighed. She took the pen from Emi, and let out an inward sigh. She never tried something like this before, but what did she have to loose? She closed her eyes, and clenched her palm around the pen.

It was strange. Mai felt like she was walking through a tunnel, and suddenly saw a dark red light trail. She stepped forward, and noticed that the light was going under the wall. Slowly, she reached out, and pushed down on a single stone. Much to the surprise of everyone, the stone moved down, and an outline of a door appeared. With a low rumbling, it slid to the side.

"She found it," Ao breathed out. He suddenly ran forward, bolting down the hallway and pushing Mai to the side, snapping her out of her trance.

"Ao, wait!" Emi yelled as she darted after the boy. Mai jumped up, and went after Emi.

"Mai!" Ayako yelled startled.

"Lin, stand guard. Father Brown, prepare to perform an exorcism." Naru ordered. Both nodded, and John flipped his Bible open, Holy Water ready for action. They ran after the trio, and saw Ao frantically trying to beat a wooden door down.

"This is it." Mai whispered under her breath. "This is where she kept all of them, this is where she died."

"And I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Saki is." Naru said. He looked at Monk. "Knock it down."

"With pleasure." Monk said. And, like promised, Monk successfully managed to kick the door down. What was on the other side is what caught everyone, even Emi, off guard. Dozens of white apparitions floated out, screaming in pain, fear, and driven insane from the loneliness.

"John, Lin! Watch out!" Mai shouted as they barreled down the hallway. "Is Saki here?!"

"Got her!" Ao said, finding the mute girl unconscious in the corner. Slinging one of her arms across his shoulder, Mai took the other, supporting the teenager between the two of them. Emi looked to be in some sort of shock.

"It's insane." Emi said, blinking. Once, twice. "I knew there was some other spirits here, but I assumed it was just Aimi. Not a whole onslaught!"

"They were all bottled up in here. That's why you reported the kitchen as a hotspot to Ms. Hyuaba." Naru said, glancing around the small, dungeon like room. "You were picking up on these spirits all together. But something was blocking them from contacting us."

"It was her." Emi shook her head. "It had to be." The heard shouts of a fight at the end of the hall, everyone realizing that they had forgotten about John and Lin fighting off the many apparitions. They hurried down the corridor, and out into the open basement, seeing Lin summoning his shiki to attack and John reciting verses from the first chapter of John from the New Testament, splashing holy water everywhere. Nothing seemed to be effecting them.

"Who are they, Emi?" asked Ayako as Monk began chanting.

"It's everyone she murdered. It's all the kids from the photo, before them, even some from after she died. Aimi is here too!" Emi was borderline hysterical. "They're hurting them!"

"_It's horrible..." _Mai thought, holding a hand to her mouth as the spirits shrieked. "_All of them, they're terrified." _Everyone stopped dead in their tracks as a long, low groan echoed from down the hallway. Slowly, the apparitions began to take form of humans instead of wisps. Everyone from the old photograph, and others that no one seemed to recognize. "_Miyuki and Haruto..." _Mai though, looking at the couple, maybe a year or so older than in her dream. "_Aimi..." _Aya walked up in front of the spirits next to Emi. Emi was ready to defend the living while Aya looked ready to defend the dead.

"She's here..." both Aya and Emi said at the same time. No one was sure if they were saying this to warn the living, the dead, or just to warn themselves for a fight they were bound to face. Akumas spirit came forward, a dark mass, red slits for eyes, glancing around from the spirits to Emi, Ao, and Saki, and from each individual person of SPR. A low chuckle escaped her lips.

"_Is this what you brought to fight me, Aya?" _she asked in a low, gravelly voice. "_Crying spirits, some teenagers and a few adults?" _Neither Emi nor spirit Aya said anything, mostly because they were unsure who Akuma was addressing. Finally, Aya spoke.

_"Do you realize that these three are not Miyuki, Haruto, or myself? Did you realize that the girl you killed was not Koji?"_

"You killed Aimi?!" Ao yelled, anger burning in his eyes. Akuma said nothing, letting out a low chuckle, darkness began radiating off her. The spirits screamed in terror, but the living seemed unaffected. Emi backed away from Aya as the girl placed her hands over her ears, shrieking.

"My lord, what's wrong with them?" John asked, panicked. No one could really answer, because no one really knew what was going on. Suddenly, the shrieking stopped, and all the spirits stopped, and turned towards them. There eyes, like Akumas, were bright red.

"_This is my power! I finally mastered it, petty humans!" _Akuma shouted as the spirits stepped forward. Monk began chanting louder, and John continued on with his exorcism. Emi was shellshocked, never seeing such things happening before.

"Emi-" Mai wanted to reach out to the girl, but Naru placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "N-Naru!" Mai managed to splutter out, red to the face.

"She needs to find her way out on her own." Naru said simply. "We get dangerous cases, Mai. If Emi can't handle the ghosts that have been residing in her home for years, then I can't see how she could possibly handle anything on our future cases. This is a test for her."

Mai looked up at her boss, shocked at such a way to treat someone. Emi was basically fighting people that looked like those who she considered family! What did he expect her to do? Mai gasped as Emis body crumbled forward.

"AKUMA!" Emis voice echoed across the walls with enough anger to possibly bring the stones down. Strangely, Mai couldn't see where her apparition was. A burst of light shot through Akuma. "_That's _for keeping all of them here!" the same light did a u-turn, and burst through the evil spirit again. "_That's _for attacking my friends!" another u-turn. "_That's _for kidnapping Saki!" The light turned again, and burst through Akuma for a fourth time, the darkness around the spirit fading. "And this. Is. For. Killing. _AIMI!" _The light shot through Akuma on each word, the spirit slowly diminishing. Emi suddenly appeared behind her. "Father Brown! Monk! _Now!"_

The monk and priest responded by performing their exorcisms, and with an earsplitting shriek, Akuma diminished completely. The controlled spirits around them went back to normal, and glanced around, realizing their captor was gone forever. Tears of joy ran down their cheeks, jumping for joy. Aya looked to the still astro-projected Emi, and smiled. She said something that was to quiet to hear, but Emi shook her head.

"You've got all these guys to look after. Take care of Aimi for me." Emi said, sticking her hands in her pockets. Aya looked dejected for a moment, but smiled. She turned towards Naru, and bowed.

"Thank you." she said. And taking the hands of Aimi and Koji, Aya was surrounded in a golden light, much like the one from the Doll House Case. Holding the hands of the younger ones, Aya, Haruto, and Miyuki floated through the ceiling, all of the captive spirits following after them.

Emi said nothing as she turned towards her body, and walked into it, fading as she got closer. But Mai could see it. Mai could make out what she was trying to hide from the rest of the team.

Emi had begun to cry.

o.0.o.0.o

"Thank you so, so much." Ms. Hyuaba said about two days later. Saki was sent to the hospital, but suffered only from minor cuts and bruises, nothing to serious. Ms. Hyuaba had returned with everyone else, and Emis' schizophrenia test results came back negative. With no evidence to hold her any longer, the police came, and removed the tracker. As of now, the whole family of parentless kids were back in there home. "It's amazing." Ms. Hyuaba continued, raising from her grateful bow towards Naru. "Even the house seems to send off the feeling of security and peace."

"You're welcome." Naru answered. Mai let out a huff of irritation and shot a glare at him. Watching as they did all the work, like always.

"Ao told me that Emi played a huge part in exorcising the spirits that were causing the problems. Is that true?" Ms. Hyuaba asked the last bit in a quiet voice.

"Yes. Emi is, in fact, very talented. With you being her guardian, I would like permission to hire her for our psychic medium. We are, unfortunately, short one, and the main reason we managed to complete this case was because of Emi." Ms. Hyuaba blinked.

"Mai isn't your psychic?" she asked in confusion.

"No, Ms. Hyuaba. Mai's abilities aren't quite so advanced." Naru answered. Mai seethed. So what if she couldn't control when she could astro-project? Having premonitions are just as useful!

"Strange, Emi said that Mai had some undeveloped talents." she shrugged. "Ah, whatever. Yes, you may hire Emi. I think she would need it after what happened to her."

"Thank you. Have a nice day." Naru turned back towards the van, and caught Mai standing empty handed, not moving. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the brunette. "Mai, there's still equipment up at base. Continue to do you job." Mai muttered something under her breath, but continued into the house, passing Monk on his way down with some parts of the shelves.

"Hey Mai," he grunted. "This is the last of the heavy stuff, there's just some cables left."

"I'll get 'em." Mai answered with a smile as she continued up the stairs. She turned into the room that was once their base, and saw Emi rolling some cables into a neat circle. A pair of purple, on-ear headphones covered her ears, a peaceful smile on her face as she continued her work.

"Hey," Mai said as she tapped Emi on the shoulder. The girl looked up, and smiled. She reached up and pulled the headphones off her head so that they hung around her neck.

"Hey, Short-Stop." Emi said with a smile.

"You don't need to do this, you know." Mai said as she began on another set of cables.

"What if I feel like doing it?" Emi said as she slung the wound up cables over her shoulder. "I've seen all the stuff you guys brought. Trust me, you need the help." There was a small silence. "So what's it like, being a part of SPR?"

"Pretty fun, most of the time." Mai answered truthfully. "Everyone is great. Except for Naru."

"Oh, is he in the 'wonderful' category?" Emi asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"More like annoying." Mai laughed.

"So you have no feelings for him at all?"

"None." Mai confirmed with a nod, feeling a blush creep across her cheeks, although she tried desperately to hide it.

"So you wouldn't mind at all if I went down there and asked him out? I'm considering it, you know. He's good-looking." Mai felt anger pierce through her for a moment. Was she going to be working with another Masako? She really didn't need it. Emi laughed. "Stop freaking, I wasn't planning on it. I don't do that to people." she laughed again at Mais' sigh of relief. "He's not my type anyways. Can't take a joke even if it killed him."

"Don't tell him!" Mai exclaimed.

"So you _do _like him!" Emi shot pack, pointing an triumphant finger. "Don't worry, I won't squeal." The two got up, both holding wound up cables. "I look forward to working with you guys." Emi continued, walking out the front door and placing the cables in the back of the van. "Call me when the next case comes in."

o.0.o.0.o

**And done! The first case is finished! Read, review, and stay tuned. ^.^**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	6. File 10: Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives 1

**Hola! Life is pretty good today, so I'm updating.**

**Guest Reviews**

**ghost hunt: It wouldn't be a MaixNaru fic if that DIDN'T happen! XD Don't worry, my friend, I just wanted the first case to focus on Emi so that everyone can get to know her and what she's like. ^.^ Mai and Naru will get their spotlight, I promise! **

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Ten_

_Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives_

o.0.o.0.o

"Wait... for... MEEEEEE!" Emi cried as she came to a screeching halt on her skateboard. Popping the skateboard into her hand and readjusting her black beanie, she smiled. "Not to late, am I, Boss?"

"You're as bad as Mai." he responded with a huff. Mai rolled her eyes, and walked up to the girl, who was digging around a black drawstring bag with a purple star design going up the the side. Emi bit her lip.

"Don't feel bad about it, he's always like that." Mai said reassuringly. Emi glanced up at her curiously.

"Was I supposed to feel bad about it?" she asked. She pulled out her headphones and an ipod. "I was just worried that I left this behind!"

o.0.o.0.o

Soon, Mai found that they where driving out towards the next city over. Truthfully, she had no idea _what _the case was about, because Their help was requested via phone call. So far, Naru only called Emi. And that's it.

"Where're we going?" Emi asked as she pulled her headphones off her head so that they hung around her neck. Naru didn't answer her. Lin just focused on the road. Emi let out a huff of irritation with being completely ignored, and pulled her headphones back on. Slowly, Mai felt herself drift off to sleep with the steady shaking of the car...

o.0.o.0.o

_Smoke. It was everywhere. It filled her lungs and she couldn't breathe. She clawed at the door, trying to figure out why the door was locked shut. How could no one could hear her screaming? Why couldn't they hear her or smell the smoke?_

_"Help me!" she screamed as loud as she could._

o.0.o.0.o

"Short-Stop?" Mai squeezed her eyes tightly shut, before opening them back up again. Her throat fell strangely tight and dry. Before she said anything, she was overcome with a coughing fit. As her vision came back into focus, she saw Emi kneeling worriedly next to her, and let a sigh of relief.

"Where are we?" Mai asked, her voice scratchy and rough.

"We're at a diner."

"A diner...? Rest break?"

"With Boss? _Please. _Don't get your hopes up Mai, I only worked with him for a few days, and I even know that the words 'rest' and 'break' aren't in his dictionary." she passed Mai some water, which she drank hungrily. "We're actually investigating this place."

"If this is a diner... then why are we in a bedroom?"

"The apartment upstairs are for the owners and their kids. We're in one of the guest rooms."

"What happened?" Mai asked, laying back down.

"I was hoping you'd tell me." Emi said. "We drove into the parking lot, and suddenly, you were coughing and choking, and just wouldn't wake up. I think Boss almost had a coronary or something."

"Naru was worried about me?" Mai asked skeptically.

"Well..." Emi trailed off, and looked up from the second glass of water she was pouring for Mai. "Worried on Naru standards."

"Ah," Mai said. So the narcissist still has a face of stone. Emi turned towards her, and handed her the glass.

"We set up base while you were out. It's a few doors down." she glanced at the door. "I should go an tell them that you're up."

"Hold on Emi," Mai stood up. "Was there a house fire here?"

"A fire...?" Emi trailed off, and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. Did you dream?"

"Yeah, and I was choking on smoke. Then I was screaming for help." Mai shook her head. "Is there a spirit here?"

"I'm not sure." Emi shrugged. "I sense something, but can't place my finger on what it is. I haven't done a walkthrough yet, so that may also be contributing to the problem." Emi jumped up. "Let's go see Boss, and tell him that you're up and ready to do some grunt work." the two girls got up, and exited the room. Upon walking a little bit, a door opened, nearly slamming Emi in the face. "Hey!" The taller girl exclaimed. "Watch it!"

"What are you doing up here?" a boy, maybe close to seventeen, with dark brown hair asked. "Patrons are supposed to stay down in the dining room."

"We're a part of SPR." Mai explained quickly. "We were just heading back to base."

"Oh! Sorry 'bout that. My name is Ichiro. I'm the owners son." he smiled. "So you guys are ghost-hunters?"

"In a way." Emi shrugged. "I'm Emi and this is Mai."

"What do you guys do?" Ichiro asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm psychic." Emi answered simply with a shrug.

"And I basically fetch tea for Na-Mr. Shibuya, every now and then."Mai said, quickly correcting herself before she could say her boss' silly nickname in front of the client.

"And the filing work, along with having dreams and premonitions that seem to help tremendously with the case." Mai looked over Ichirus' shoulder and saw Naru walking up to them. "Now that you are awake, Mai, I would like you to take temperature readings of the building with while Emi does a walkthrough."

"Yes sir!" Mai said as she took the clipboard, pen, and walkie talkie from Naru.

"Ah, well. Duty calls." Emi let out a long sigh as her boss walked away. "Talk to you later, Ichiru." the two girls turned, and began walking.

"So where do you wanna start?" Mai asked. Emi shrugged.

"Ground floor?"

"Fine by me." Mai said as they went downstairs into the diner, which had thankfully been closed for their investigation. Not that the haunted restaurant was getting many visitors anyways. Mai looked at Emi out of he corner of her eye. The taller girl was smirking. "What is it?"

"He complimented you." Emi stated simply.

"Uh, what?"

"Boss complimented you, Short-Stop." Emi repeated herself, and Mai backtracked. Emi sighed. "He said your dreams are a tremendous help to cases. Take it as a compliment, 'cause they must be few and far between." Now that Mai thought about it, Naru _did _compliment her. Blushing slightly, she entered the dining room. Waiting for a temperature to come up, glanced at Emi, who had her eyes closed and looked to be very relaxed.

Suddenly, a man came barreling through, rudely knocking into Emi, barely noticing that she was there. Emis eyes snapped open. She let out a gasp, and caught herself before she fell.

"Hey, watch it!" she exclaimed for the second time that day. "Some of us are trying to work here!" the man whipped around.

"I have no idea why Ichiru insisted to hire you guys. Ghosts don't exist and everything that's happened here can easily be explained by something logical."

"Yeah, because knives flying through the air at patrons makes _so _much sense." Emi replied while crossing her arms. Mai widened her eyes in shock.

"And what are you, part of a gang or something?"

"What makes you think that? It's wrong to judge, you know." Emi looked at him with a disapproval in her eyes. "If you _must _know, my name is Emi, and I am currently Shibuya Psychic Reasearchs' psychic medium."

"Please, you're just a run down teenager that is searching for attention."

"Okay then." Emi shrugged. "Because every run down teenager searching for attention knows that your first name is Diachi."

"Read it in online."

"Age forty-four."

"Lucky guess."

"Zodiac sign, Virgo." Emi said in a matter-of-fact tone. Diachi blinked, before grumbling something under his breath and stomping out of the room.

"I'm sorry." another women with bleached blond hair came up to the two. "My name is Etsuko. He's been like that forever." she ran after Diachi. Once they were both a good distance away, both Mai and Emi laughed. "Don't you just love putting the skeptics in their place?" Emi said, shaking her head. "Nothing here. Got the temperatures?"

"Yep."

"Onto the next room!"

o.0.o.0.o

After getting all the temperatures down, Mai returned to Naru, who promptly ordered his tea. Once back with the drinks, Emi, who took a soda, the two decide to give out a report.

"There's a spirit here, a poltergeist, I think." Emi stretched her arms above her head. "But it's intelligent. I'm pretty sure it's female. She's avoiding me, and trying to avoid the equipment."

"Mai? What do you feel?" Naru turned to ask his assistant. Mai thought for a moment.

"I don't think she's necessarily bad, but very angry about something."

"How strong is she?" Naru asked.

"Can't tell." Emi said, taking a sip of her drink. "To sneaky."

"Then we will begin interviews."

o.0.o.0.o

"So what've we got so far?" Emi asked as she came back from a second walkthrough during the interviews.

"The feeling of being watched in the girls bathroom, cupboards and doors opening on their own, knocking, and lights turning on in the middle of the night." Naru said. "Diachi claimed to have had electricians check the building over and over again, and it seems the building is on stable ground." he glanced over the notes that Lin took. "And apparently several employees and customers have been attacked by flying knives, all young females between the ages thirteen and twenty."

"There's a lot of teenage girls working here," Mai pointed out. "In fact, all of the wait staff minus Ichiru are young females. Maybe all their stress combined made a poltergeist."

"That would be a logical explanation," Naru said. "But Emi insists there's a spirit here."

"She's just sneaky." Emi said.

"Hey," there was a knock on the door and everyone, minus Lin, looked up to see Ichiru standing in the doorway.

"Ichiru," Emi smiled. "You missed out on the interviews."

"My dad wouldn't let me talk to you. He thinks that all of this is bull." he strode in and shut the door behind him.

"Have you been experiencing any activity?" Naru asked. Emi was slightly surprised at how quickly Lin had his laptop ready, but said nothing.

"Not really." Ichiru answered. "I always heard the girls screaming, and when I went in to see what was wrong, everything would stop."

"So why are you here?"

"I saw my mom."

"Okay?" Naru asked. "So you saw your mother."

"Yeah, you see, it's impossible for me to see her." he swallowed. "She's dead."

o.0.o.0.o

**Yeah, I used that cliffie before, but I wanted to end this chapter quick.**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	7. File 10: Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives 2

**Ah, how I love Ghost Hunt. ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Ten_

_Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives_

o.0.o.0.o

"I know I might sound crazy, but I swear, I saw my dead mother." Ichiru said.

"Where did you see her?" Naru asked.

"In her bedroom. I went in there about a week ago, and she was standing by her window." he paused. "But it was weird. She didn't look transparent or like a floating specter or something like that. She looked completely normal. If I hadn't known any better, I'd say that she was standing right there with me and nothing was wrong." he cracked a smile. "Except for, of course, the fact that she was dead."

"Did she say anything to you?" Naru asked.

"I'm not sure. She said something, but I couldn't hear her. Like she was muted, I guess. And I can barely read a book let alone someones lips."

"Would you mind if I asked how she died?" Ichiru seemed to stiffen at this one, but answered nonetheless.

"It was a freak accident, or so I'm told. Apparently there was a gas leak on one of the stoves. In the middle of the night, she went to fix up some warm milk, and before she knew it, the whole kitchen was on fire. It was so bad, there wasn't even a body left, only ashes." he looked up. "I was with my grandparents on the night it happened. The place is still being repaired."

"Would you mind if we went and saw this kitchen?" Naru asked. Ichiru furrowed his brows.

"I'm not sure. It's not exactly safe."

"I can assure you that we can handle ourselves." Naru answered. "May we?"

"If you want." Ichiru shrugged, and stood.

"Lin, stay here and watch the base. Emi, I want you to contact Monk and Ms. Matuzaki. I believe that their services will be needed."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Emi said with a salute.

"Mai, you come with me." Mai, glancing curiously at her boss, rose from her seat and followed him out the door. They took a turn or two, and then came to a door. Upon opening the door, the three entered a burned out kitchen. Mai glanced at it nervously. Something didn't seem right about this, minus the fact that it was a crime scene. "Ichiru, you may leave." Ichiru raised his eyebrows, but said nothing as he walked out the door.

"That was kinda rude, you know." Mai pointed out.

"Would you want to be at the spot where your mother died?" Naru asked. Mai glanced down, silently admitting defeat, but swearing victory next time.

"So what do you want me to do?" Mai asked.

"I want to see if this place is connected to the case and your previous dream."

"How did you-?"

"Emi."

"Oh." Mai glanced around. Something seriously didn't seem right about this place. Was this her intuition? Mai ran her hand across the stove that supposedly had a gas leak.

o.0.o.0.o

_Mai watched in utter horror as someone was was splashing gasoline everywhere. What did he plan on doing? Mai noticed several bottles of air freshener off to the side. As soon as the gasoline ran out, the man began to spray the air freshener everywhere, trying to cover the scent. Slowly, he snuck out._

_o.0.o_

_Time sped up as Mai watched a woman who bared a striking resemblance to Ichiru walk forward. She brought out a pan and some milk._

_"No, stop!" Mai cried, watching as the women placed the pan on the stove, and turned the flames on, with full intention to warm up her drink. Flames licked hungrily across her hand as she jumped back, watching in shock for a few moments while the flames engulfed her kitchen. She ran for the door, hacking on smoke, and began to pound on it. The door was stuck tight._

_Intentionally or accidentally, Mai didn't know._

o.0.o.0.o

Mai snapped back to reality, drawing her hand away from the stove.

"Did you see anything?" Naru asked. Mai nodded numbly.

"I-I-I s-saw the accident." Mai stuttered out. "But it wasn't an accident. Somebody intentionally poured gasoline everywhere, and covered it up with air freshener. She went down to make some warm milk, and, oh god, Ichiru..." Mai felt tears running down her cheeks, suddenly feeling awful for the boy. He had no idea that his mother was murdered.

"Did you see who did it?" Naru asked gently. Mai took a split second to notice the tone of his voice, and then shook her head.

"No,"

"We will tell no one of this." Naru said. "It will be kept only between us."

"Not even Lin or Emi?"

"No." Naru said. "If this is a murder, we will wait until we can get more evidence, and perhaps who did this. From the looks of the damage done to this kitchen, this happened fairly recently, recently enough to make you or anyone else who knew this information a suspect."

o.0.o.0.o

_Day Two..._

Mai stormed down to the diner, in search of the kitchen so that she could make Naru his precious tea. No dreams last night, and so far, nothing except some slight temperature fluctuations. Ayako and Monk had arrived earlier that morning, being introduced to the clients. Neither have attempted an exorcism yet. Upon walking into the dining room, Mai noticed Ichiru cleaning up the diner, even though there were no patrons. Now that she thought about it, Mai actually had some questions for Ichiru.

"Hey, Ichiru," Mai approached the boy with a smile. He was down at the diner, wiping away specs of dust that didn't seem to be there. "I have a quick question."

"Shoot," Ichiru said.

"Where has Etsuko and Diachi been?"

"Dad? Truthfully, I have no idea." he shrugged. "Sometimes they go away on business or something. I think Dad plans on selling this place and moving."

"How do you know Etsuko anyways?" Mai asked curiously.

"Etsuko was my moms best friend. They were so close I grew up calling Etsuko 'Auntie'." he shook his head with a chuckle. "Stupid, huh?"

"No, not at all." Mai smiled.

"Now can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Mai joked back. Ichiru rolled his eyes, but continued regardless.

"Has your team found out anything about my mom?" Ichiru asked hopefully. The guy splashing the gasoline around flashed through her mind. "_We will tell no one of this. It will be kept only between us." _Narus words echoed in her brain.

"No," Mai shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Ichiru shook his head. "It's just that, if you come into contact with her, I'd like to tell her something before she's gone." Mai smiled gently.

"Ichiru, I can truly understand that. I really can." there was a small silence before It dawned on Mai what she was supposed to be doing. "Narus' tea!" she gasped as she jumped up. Ichiru blinked in confusion.

"I'm keeping you from work, aren't I?"Ichiru said with a smile. "Ah, whatever. I have nothing to do here. I think I'm going to..." he paused. "I think I'm going to go back into Moms room, and see if I'll see her again." Mai paused, and watched Ichiru walk out the door.

"Ichiru," Mai called out suddenly. She paused as the boy stopped, but didn't turn around. His shoulders were shaking, and Mai knew he was crying. "I know how it feels to have a mother die. Both mine and my father have already moved on. But you have two things that I didn't have. You have a father and you have a woman in you life who plays a very motherly role. I know Etsuko won't replace her... but I think that you should try to talk to her. I'm sure she'll listen." Ichiru turned around, and wiped his eyes.

"I don't know if this will help, but my mom passed on about a month ago. And her name was Moriko."

"Thank you." Mai said with a smile and a nod. Ichiru returned the gesture.

"Really, Mai, I should be thanking you." he smiled, and went up the stairway. Mai smiled, and turned into the kitchen to make the tea that Naru would, no doubt, be angry at her for taking so long. Mai quickly made the drink, the water taking longer than she thought to boil.

Hearing a knocking noise, she tensed up, not wanting to run into the poltergeist that seemed to have it our for young girls. She heard it again, and began searching for the source. She looked at what she believed was a walk in fridge for food storage, and flung open the door. It was then she figured out why, exactly, that curiosity killed the cat.

Etsuko and Diachi broke apart and stared at Mai. Everything that Mai said that was nice about Etsuko and Diachi? She takes it back now. She whipped around, and made sure to gather up the now finished tea. She heard Diachi storm out the employees exit, and Etsuko began to follow her.

"Mai! Wait, please!" Mai kept walking, ignoring Etsuko as she cried out to her. "Mai!" she grabbed onto her elbow, and dragged the girl back into the kitchen. "Please don't tell anyone! It would tear Ichiru apart if he knew."

"Knew what? That his father and 'Auntie' were sucking face in a walk-in fridge a month after his mother died?" Mai asked, annoyance and a strange sense of betrayal running through her. The two emotions overshadowed the pure shock she was feeling when she discovered them. And to think that she had been telling Ichiru how blessed he was to have them in his life!

"Well..." Etsuko paused. "When you say it like that, it sounds horrible."

"Exactly." Mai said, trying to go around Etsuko.

"Listen," Etsuko growled, her attitude doing a complete one-eighty, going from sweet and nice to completely menacing as she stepped in front of Mai.

"I don't have time to listen." Mai said cooly, trying to step around Etsuko again. This time, she managed to get around her, but the woman gave Mai a hard shove. She fell forward with the tea tray, the hot liquid spilled all over the floor, teacups breaking. Mai gasped as the hot liquid soaked through her clothing and shards from the teacups became embedded into her palms.

"Bad things happen to good people all the time." Etsuko continued. "Before you know it, your life just might begin to slip away." Mai turned, looking the woman in the eye. "And I can't imagine the pain everyone would feel if you were found like Moriko."

"Mai?" Naru walked into the kitchen, much to the unspoken relief of Mai. He glanced at the mess on the floor. "What happened?"

"Mai was making tea, and bumped into me. She fell." Etsuko said, her kindness back in action. "It was completely my fault."

"I apologize for my assistants' clumsiness." Naru said. "We'll send down one of my colleagues clean the mess."

"No, no, you all have more important things to do." Etsuko insisted. "I'll clean this up." she proved her point by reaching into a cupboard and pulling out a broom. "You should take care of Mai. I'm pretty sure that some shards from the teacups got into her hands." Naru paused, staring at her, as if trying to read her before he turned out the door. Mai scrambled up and followed her out.

"Go see Ms. Matsuzaki so that she can treat your hands." Naru said.

"Um, Naru, Ichiru told me that his mom died about a month ago. Her name was Moriko." Naru glanced at her and nodded. Mai went into her room to change out of her tea-soaked clothing, a task much more difficult with cut up hands. Ayako entered the room a few minutes later, a first aid kit in hand. Cuts cleaned and hands bandaged, the two made their way back towards base. "So you got the details about the case?" Mai asked.

"Yeah. Emi filled us in. No doubt it's a poltergeist." Ayako smirked. "But enough about that. What's this I'm hearing about Naru complimenting you?"

"Emi really has a big mouth," I muttered. "It really was nothing Ayako, just said my dreams were helpful."

"I don't know, _tremendous _is a pretty strong word."

"Ayako, I'm telling you, it's no big-" Mai was cut off as a huge kitchen knife flew right in front of her face, landing firmly in the wall beside her. "Deal." she squeaked out. Slowly, the two turned from where the knife came from, and saw dozens of floating knives hovering in the hallway on their own.

"Oh God." Ayako muttered, before they ran down the hallway shrieking.

"What on earth...?" Monk opened the door to see the two running for their lives, literally.

"Move, move, move!" Ayako shouted as the duo pushed themselves into base and slammed the door shut. A series of 'thunks' sounded on the other side of the door for about thirty seconds before it finally came to a stop. Everyone waited for a moment, Ayako and Mai catching their breath before opening the door. Embedded in the wood was quite possibly all the knives in the building. Emi stepped forward and wrenched one from the door. She twirled it in her fingers, thinking intently.

"Huh." she muttered. "I'm getting the name Moriko."

"That was Mom..." Ichiru stared at the doorway with absolute shock on his face. Diachi and Etsuko stood behind him. "Are you saying that my mom did this?"

"I think that she's the one haunting the building." Emi said.

"But... but she was so nice when she was alive. Why is she attacking everyone?" Etsuko asked, raising a hand to her lips.

"Ichiru, you said that your father was trying to sell the place, right?" Mai asked. "Maybe she's trying to tell you not to sell."

"But there's also the possibility that she changed when she died." Monk pointed out. "They may be nice while they're alive, but could change completely when they pass on." Ichiru looked at the ground.

"Mom!" he yelled suddenly. "Please, please just stop it! Everything you ever wanted is falling apart! The diner will be foreclosed soon as a hazard to patrons! You have to stop attacking all of them, please!" silence followed that as Ichiru turned and walked away. Soon, Diachi and Etsuko were also gone.

"But that's not the case," Emi muttered, still looking at the knife in her hands. She looked up at the rest of SPR. "I think she's trying to give us a warning."

o.0.o.0.o

**Done and done!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	8. File 10: Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives 3

**LOL, I'm updating this fast. XD**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Ten_

_Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai awoke in the middle of the night, a feeling of uneasiness settling over her. She glanced around her. Ayako and Emi were both sleeping peacefully. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary... but something was telling her to look around.

Slowly, she inched out of bed, and quietly stepped across the floor. She immediately went across the hall, and peeked inside. Monk was snoring, whereas Naru and Lin were nowhere to be seen.

"_Not surprising." _she thought as she went down the hall. Ichiru was asleep in his bedroom, and Diachi and Etsuki sleeping in the same room on the same bed, as if they were actually married.. That made Mai slightly sick, and she resisted the urge to slap some sense into Diachi. She headed to base next, and slid the door open slightly. Lin was actually sleeping, and Naru was staring at the monitors. He didn't seem to notice her, so Mai continued on.

The dining room was fine, so she made her way into the kitchen. She opened the door slowly, and flipped the switch on. She took a few steps into the room, and crossed her arms.

"_There's absolutely nothing." _she thought as she looked around. Nothing was moved, not even the camera that she had set up earlier. She looked at it again. Usually, the camera would have a small green light on it when it was charged, a yellow light to indicate it was time to change the footage cartridges, and a red light when the battery was low. Right now, none of the small lights were on. Was the camera out of power, and Naru just didn't notice? Or did it run out recently, and Naru was on his way down to replace and charge it? Mai walked towards it, taking a closer look.

Just as she reached the camera, the door her back was to slammed close. She whipped around, and ran towards the door. She shook at the door handle, but it wasn't moving, almost like it was locked. She shook it harder when the lights began to flicker. She heard cupboards creak open slowly, and she turned. The lights began to flicker faster, and the cupboards and drawers began to slam open and closed. Eating utensils began to swirl dangerously around the room, and Mai had to duck down to avoid getting hit by a knife that embedded itself in the door. Slowly, the knife began to drag across, making a scratching noise that was louder than it should have been.

実.

行.

"_Run." _Mai thought as the knife stopped. It hovered for a moment, before the door slammed open from the other side. Naru stood there, staring down at Mai while objects clattered to the floor and cupboards stopped slamming. Lights flickered back to life, and Mai just sat dumbfounded.

"What happened?" Naru asked, walking in.

"I'm not to sure myself. I just got up and felt drawn here for some reason. And I noticed the camera was dead, so I went to check on it. Then the door slammed shut, and everything was moving on it's own." Naru picked up the knife that laid near the door.

"It's warm." he mused. He looked at the back of the door. "It seems whatever is here is trying to tell us something."

"What was your first clue?" Mai asked sarcastically.

"Have you been having any dreams lately?"

"No. Nothing since the vision when I touched the stove."

"Mai," Naru looked up from examining the knife. "I think that this is something much darker than a poltergeist haunting a simple diner."

o.0.o.0.o

_Day Three..._

Thanks to Narus wonderfully cryptic opinion, Mai threw the thoughts of sleeping out the door. Now she was dead tired. Would Naru get mad if she slept on the job...?

"Hey, Short-Stop." Emi said with a wave of her hand as Mai entered the base. "You look a little worse for wear. Did you hear it too?"

"Hear what?" Mai asked.

"Voices." Emi said. "Moriko is making her presence known. She was screaming for us to run."

"Us, as in, all of us?" Monk asked.

"No, 'us' as in Mai and me." Emi frowned. "But it doesn't make sense. She's the only spirit here. This activity can't be caused by humans, it would take to much energy and no one else that we've interviewed could've set a curse."

"So are you saying that Moriko is both attacking us and telling us to run away?" Ayako asked. "Run from what?"

"I don't know, she won't tell me." Emi said with a shrug. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Then... somethings going on here, and Moriko is trying to scare everyone off?" Mai asked thoughtfully.

"It would appear so." Naru said. "It seems the puzzle is starting to fit together."

"There's just one piece of the puzzle missing." Emi said. "Or a whole half."

"Maybe not." Lin said. Emi looked up at him.

"Okay, for the record, I'm going to say that that was the first time I ever heard him speak." Emi said, lifting her wrist to point at Lin to prove her point.

"He's not the talkative type." Mai smiled.

"Anyways..." Lin turned towards them. "Apparently, there were police reports that about nine teenage girls who disappeared near here. Very recently, in fact. They looked into it, and even got a search warrant. They found nothing, though. After about three months and no changes or evidence found, the police dismissed it, saying that the girl were runaways." Naru glanced over his shoulder at the file.

"Strange. All of them were reported as being waitresses here." Naru mumbled.

"How recently is 'very recently'?" Emi asked thoughtfully.

"The past ten months." Lin answered, scrolling back up the page.

"So let's see... ten months and nine girls. Ichiru said that his mother died about a month ago, which was confirmed by Moriko herself. So that would mean that, each month before her death, a teenage girl between the ages of thirteen and twenty disappeared without a trace." Emi took an intake of breath. "So is Moriko trying to scare everyone off to avoid another disappearance?"

"Um, Emi, these girls that disappeared, are they dead?" Ayako asked. Emi paused, and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened them.

"I don't think so." Emi answered. "If they were, then I think I would've sensed them by now."

"But what if they weren't even a spirit? What if they moved on?" Monk asked.

"And remember, you couldn't sense all those spirits that resided in your basement." Naru pointed out, much to the frustration of Emi.

"I believe we already confirmed that the reason I couldn't sense them was because Akuma was holding them all captive and blocking them from getting to me." Emi said, a temple throbbing on her head. She turned towards Monk. " And I don't know about you, but if you disappeared, and no one knew were the hell you were, wouldn't you stick around just to say, 'I'm okay.'?" Emi asked. She turned her gaze out the window. "I would."

"We've still got some holes, though." Mai said. She began counting off her fingers. "One; We don't have a clear answer wether or not these girls are dead or alive, no offense to you, Emi."

"None taken." the girl shrugged.

"Two; If these girls are alive, then where are they? And three; How does this all tie together with Moriko?"

"So we've got a few obstacles." Ayako sighed. "What else is new?"

"Mai, do you think you could dream?" Naru asked. Mai shrugged.

"I don't really think it would be that hard. I didn't sleep much last night."

"Then sleep. We need answers."

o.0.o.0.o

_"C'mon, c'mon." Mai slammed on the door and rattled the doorknob. She looked nervously over her shoulders and saw the flames coming closer and closer. She already suffered from some bad, horrid burns, but she was a fighter, and fighters will always win._

_The smoke became bad, though. It constricted her lungs and choked her. She couldn't breathe. Suddenly, the door broke open, and she fell out. Mai closed her eyes, finding her breathing even more strained. She heard a fire extinguisher go off, putting out the flames. Suddenly, she was moving. No... she wasn't moving herself, someone was moving her. Carrying her. Why wasn't this person calling 1-1-9? _

_She felt the cool breeze of the outdoors hit her. Outside... Why was she outside? Something dug into the ground beside her head. A shovel? Who was digging the hole? Slowly, she cracked her eyes open, taking in her surroundings. She looked up at who was digging the hole._

_"Diachi..." she rasped. He stopped, listening intently. "Diachi... help me..."_

_"Moriko?" he asked nervously._

_"Help me... call... call 1-1-9..." he rushed into the house, and Mai sighed with relief. Finally, he will help her. He will let her live for Ichiru. But when he came back out, however, she saw something that truly broke her heart. He ran out, and made a big deal about kissing Etsuko right in front of her. What was truly horrid? Her best friend, her sons 'Auntie' was perfectly fine with this._

_"It's such a tragic event, isn't it, Moriko? Seeing your husband, the man who made your son, falling in love with another woman, your best friend no less." Etsuko sneered at her._

_"W-why...?" Mai rasped._

_"Isn't horrible when good people stumble across bad things?" Etsuko began to count off her fingers. "Drugs, gangs," she paused, and smirked at the next one. "Blackmarket." Mai suddenly thought of several of her former employees she found locked away in a room the other day. Just young girls. Were they...? "Yes, Moriko, we were going to sell them over the black market. Ten girls gives us five million yen, and we already have seven. People pay good money for things like them." her smirk grew wider. "And we know you're all for justice and all that, and wouldn't hesitate to report us. Of course, we couldn't let that happen. So we had to get rid of you."_

_"The fire... you...?"_

_"Yes, we staged the fire. Your death was supposed to be an accident so that we could receive the insurance, but I suppose it can still work." she turned towards Diachi. "How 'bout we say that by the time we got into the kitchen, her body was already ashes?"_

_"Works for me." Diachi said as he pulled out a long knife. "Ladies first." he passed the knife off to Etsuko, who took it, grinning evilly over Mais defenseless form. She raised the knife, and brought it down into her stomach. She passed it off to Diachi, who stabbed her. Mai shrieked from pain. Slowly, she reached up and grabbed Diachis wrist._

_"Please... don't... don't hurt... Ichiru." slowly, her wrist fell to her side as she died._

o.0.o.0.o

Mai bolted upright from the dream, shrieking. Everyone in SPR snapped their heads in her direction. When she was finally done screaming, she broke down and sobbed.

"Oh, Mai..." Ayako put a motherly arm across the girls shoulders as she cried.

"It was- It was horrible." Mai said. "Worse than the Urado case." Everyone but Emi had a grim look on their faces, remembering when Mai awoke screaming bloody murder. Naru stood up.

"Mai, I would like to discuss this alone."

"What?! Why?" demanded Emi.

"Naru, I don't think that's a good idea." Monk said gently. "If it was worse than that one time, don't you think it's a little early for her to be retelling it?"

"No," Mai shook her head, and stood up shakily. "No, it's fine. I'll be fine." she continued to follow Naru out the doorway, smiling softly as she heard Emi mutter something about how she hated being in the dark about things. They continued walking until they reached her room, where the entered, Naru shutting the door behind him. He turned towards Mai.

"What did you dream about?" he asked. Mai looked down, reliving the awful nightmare.

"I, it was Moriko. How she died. Except-except _I _was the one reliving her death."

"Did she really die in the house fire?" Mai shook her head.

"No, she was severely burned, and was desperately in need of medical attention. But, I think that they thought I was dead, so he carried me outback, and started digging a hole to bury me. But I wasn't dead. And I tried to get Diachis help, but he came out with Etsuko and they-and they both took turns stabbing me in the stomach. Like it was some sort of game." Mai clutched the covers in her hands. "And then I- then I died."

"Did you remember where the body was buried?" Naru asked. Mai nodded numbly.

"Under a huge maple tree out back. I think the knife is there too." Naru stared thoughtfully out the window, quickly finding the maple.

"Well, now we know what really happened to Moriko. But why?"

"They planned on selling them on the blackmarket." Mai spoke up. "All those girls who went missing, they said they could get five million yen for ten girls. Moriko found out about it, and was going to report it, but they..." she trailed off, looking up at Naru.

"We should get Ichiru out of here." Naru said. He took the walkie-talkie in his hand, and contacted Lin. "Lin, go get Ichiru, and tell him that this case got to dangerous for him to stay here. Tell him to go off to a relatives or a friends house until he is contacted and it is safe to come back. Monk, Ayako, and Emi, I want you to go start digging under a large maple tree out back. I have reason to believe that there's body buried there." he paused. "Lin, when you are done and sure that Ichiru is gone, continue to help the others."

"Yes Naru." Lin said before hanging up. Naru turned towards Mai, who looked nervously out the window.

"Etsuko and Diachi killed her, and got insurance money. I caught them kissing in the fridge. I think she threatened me, Naru."

"What did she say, Mai?"

"'Bad things happen to good people all the time. Before you know it, your life might begin to slip away. Imagine the pain that everyone would feel if they found you like we found Moriko.'" Mai looked into Narus eyes, and saw that they were burning with fury. He turned, and continued to look out the window.

"I'm going to call the police, and say that we found a bloody knife in the backyard. You come with me." Mai rose from her bed, and followed Naru out the door and back to base. Mai watched out the window as Lin and the others unearthed a bag. With gloves on, Lin pulled out a knife, dried blood covering the blade. Replacing the blade, he placed the bag off to the side, and continued digging.

"Naru, they found it..." she trailed off when she heard a large _crack _noise, like when something hits a head., and feared the worse as she turned. Slowly, she saw Naru falling to the ground. "Naru!" she shrieked as his body hit the floor with a thud. The phone rolled out of his hand. He had yet to call the police. Mai looked up at Diachi and Etsuko, both smirking evilly, Diachi holding a pan in his hand, and made a beeline for the phone.

"Oh, no." Etsuko said, grabbing the phone just before Mai wrapped her fingers around it.

"_Run!" _

Mai wondered for a moment if the voice she heard was Morikos. She took the warning, and bolted out the door. Mai didn't get far before a large hand grabbed the back of her shirt. She screamed as she heard the pan swing through the air. As it came into contact with her head, Mai saw stars in front of her eyes. She felt incredibly dizzy as she fell forward, pain spreading throughout her entire brain.

Black dots formed in her vision as she lost consciousness.

o.0.o.0.o

**And... another cliffhanger! ^.^ Lol, yes, shoot me 'cause I'm so evil to torture you with these cliffhangers. XD**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	9. File 10: Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives 4

**Hi! Left all you with a cliffhanger, huh? Lol, everyone wants to know what happened to our favorite Ghost Hunt couple. XD**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi**

o.0.o.0.o

"I can't believe there was a body here." Ayako shuttered.

"I can't believe we unearthed it." Emi pointed out. "Do you guys work as part time homicide experts or something?"

"No," Monk chuckled. "But I wouldn't doubt hunting killers is any less dangerous than hunting ghosts."

"At least most people can see and defend themselves against killers." Emi said. "If you're being chased by a ghost, all you can really do is scream and run." she shoved her hands in her pockets as they reached the door to base. Unusually, the door was closed. Ayako raised her eyebrows while Monk smirked.

"Alright you two, break it up, we're coming in." Monk joked as he knocked on the door. No sounds came from the other side. "Naru, you were right, you know. There was a body." Nothing. No narcissistic comment about how Naru knew everything. No sounds of footsteps coming to open the door. Not even the common pitter-patter of typing. Absolute silence. "Naru? Mai?" Monk took hold of the doorknob, becoming increasingly worried finding that it was locked. He shook it harder. "It won't open!"

"What're we gonna do, bust it off the hinges?" Emi asked, becoming worried. Monk and Lin shared a glance.

"Guys, back up, I'm kicking it down." Monk said.

"Wait, we can't just kick a door down! This is their property!" Ayako exclaimed.

"Do you see any other option?" Lin asked calmly.

"But this is different from breaking down a door in an old schoolhouse or a rotted out door in a basement! We could-" Ayako was cut off as Monk proceeded to successfully bust the door open. It swung back and hit the wall, revealing an unconscious Naru. Lin was the first to react, rushing in next to his unconscious boss. Ayako kneeled down near Naru, feeling through his hair.

"He's got a nasty bump, but nothing to worry about." Ayako confirmed. Her confirmation was further proven when the young man groaned, opening his eyes and beginning to push himself off the floor.

"You okay, Boss?" Emi asked as Naru came into sitting position with help from Lin.

"Where's Mai?" Naru immediately asked, shaking Lin off and standing up. Everyone glanced at each other, seeing as the happy brunette wasn't in the room. Lin looked at the monitors.

"Strange." Lin muttered. He pressed rewind on the tapes, up until the four of them left to search for Morikos body. A few seconds after that, the tape blurred into a white screen. Emi took a sharp intake of breath.

"Someone erased the video." Ayako said, examining from afar. She stared off thoughtfully for a moment. "Why would someone tamper with our equipment?"

"To cover something up." Emi said, her eyes shaded over creepily. Everyone glanced at the teenager as she stood motionless in the doorframe. Her fists were clenched to the side, shaking in some sort of unimaginable anger. "That bastard."

"Emi...?" Monk asked. Slowly, Emi raised her head. Her eyes had, strangely, changed color from light blue and dark brown to a deep hazel.

"Emi. Is that the name of the girl I was talking to every night?" 'Emi' asked. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I believe there has been a misunderstanding. My name is not Emi. I am Moriko."

o.0.o.0.o

_Mai groaned. Her head hurt like hell and she was tired. She rolled onto her side._

_"Mai?" Mai knew that voice. Monk, perhaps? It was male. Maybe it was Naru. No, it was to gentle to be him, but it certainly didn't sound like Monk or Lin... Perhaps she was dreaming._

_"Gene?" she threw the answer out there. If she was wrong, oh well. She could get over it. Mai opened her eyes, staring into friendly indigo blue ones._

_"You okay?" Gene asked as Mai sat up. She winced and brought her hand to her head._

_"My head hurts. Like someone took a metal baseball bat and bashed me in the head with it."_

_"Close enough, I guess." Gene said as he helped Mai up. "In fact, you got hit with a frying pan."_

_"A frying pan...?" Mai asked, not remembering the event._

_"Yeah, I watched the whole thing. Why, if I wasn't a spirit, then I'd be beating that Diachi guy senseless." somehow, Mai figured Gene really wouldn't do that._

_"Wait a second..." Mai trailed off, realizing something. "You saw it? How could you see it? You only appear in my dreams!"_

_"I learned a neat little trick. Now, I can manifest wherever you are!" Gene grinned. "Isn't that great?" Mai thought about it for a moment._

_"Depends if the word 'privacy' is in your dictionary or not." Mai joked._

_"Why Mai, are you doubting the manners of an englishman? I am offended by such a terrible accusation!" Gene grinned, going along with the joke. Suddenly, Mai remembered Naru. The 'crack' of the pan hitting his head, him falling to the ground, unmoving._

_"Naru!" Mai gasped. "Is he okay? What happened?"_

_"I'm sure he'll be fine." Gene said, trying to console her, even though he was terribly worried about his twin. "But we've got a problem."_

_"What?"_

_"Mai, you've been kidnapped."_

o.0.o.0.o

"Diachi couldn't hold his own if it came to a face-to-face fight. He always had someone else do it for him, or he took you by surprise." Moriko said, walking into the room, looking out the window. "I'm sure that if you knew he was behind you, Kazuya, you would've won, no doubt." she paused. "I see you've found where they buried me." her voice dropped to a whisper. "Did Ichiru see?"

"No," Naru said. "Ichiru, in fact, still believes your death was an accident."

"Is he here?" Moriko asked, still whispering, still looking out the window.

"No," Lin answered this time. "I told him to leave because the case got too dangerous. I believe he said he was going to his grandparents."

"They'll take good care of him." she nodded in approval. "You do realize I never meant to intentionally harm you, right? I just wanted you to get the message. I wanted to scare you out." she chuckled. "Apparently, it takes more than some flying knives and cryptic messages to scare this lot away." she continued to look out the window. "I just wanted you to take Ayako and Mai and Emi and get out of here before they set their targets. I guess I was to late, though."

"But, why Mai?" Ayako asked, bringing her fist to her mouth.

"Fit their criteria, I guess. Short and cute. But Mai also knew to much." she looked up at the window, although not staring out it. Rather, she was looking at Narus reflection in the glass. "They knew that you and Mai knew all about what they're doing." she turned, and looked at the team, leaning against the wall. "They had intentions of killing you, Mr. Shibuya. You were lucky that the rest of your team came in when they did. It was either kill you and leave Mai behind, or let you live and take Mai for the five million yen." she sighed. "Money or murder charges."

"Do you know where Mai is?" Naru asked.

"I have a vague idea." Moriko said. She pushed herself from the wall, and began to walk out the door. "I'm warning you, though. There are ten girls total being held captive. Be prepared for a hostage situation. Etsuko and Diachi would stoop that low." she turned back towards the door, her hand on the doorframe. "I would know, wouldn't I?"

o.0.o.0.o

**Yes, short chapter. I'm still leaving you in SUSPENSE. lol, read review and stay tuned!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	10. File 10: Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives 5

**And I'm back again! OMG, I was so happy with the reviews I'm getting! I didn't think people would like it so much, 'cause this is one hundred percent new for me! Thank you so, so much! ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File Ten_

_Diners, Drive Ins, and Knives_

o.0.o.0.o

Mia awoke slowly, trying to get a good look at her surroundings. Realizing she couldn't actually see, she let out what she thought was a gasp, but sounded more like a shocked whimper.

"She's awake." a female off to her right whispered. Mai realized the reason she couldn't see was because she was surrounded in darkness. She nearly gagged as an awful stench filled her nose. Not that of death and decay, she knew what that smelled like, but more like the nasty bathroom that was never cleaned at this fast food restaurant she worked at before coming to SPR. She groaned as the back of her head pounded, and tried to lift her hand to feel the bump that was left. Her hands were tied behind her back.

"Ow." Mai muttered, trying to push herself up, and failing.

"You okay?" the same female voice from before asked.

"I'm not sure." Mai answered truthfully. "My head is pounding."

"They got you with the frying pan, then." the girl assumed. "They've gotten smarter."

"Who are you?" Mai asked, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.

"I'm Megumi." she said. "I was the first target. When they came after me, they plain slapped a hand over my mouth and dragged me over here, while there were customers and other employees about." she sighed. "I've been here for quite some time,"

"Ten months." Mai spoke up. "You've been missing for ten months."

"So I've been gone that long." Megumi sighed. "I can't even remember what my own mothers face looks like, let alone when I was brought here."

"Where's here?" Mai asked.

"A room hidden under the floorboards." Mai could feel her tense as footsteps sounded overhead. "Can you talk in whispers?" Megumi asked. "They'll punish you if you're to loud." Mai fell silent at this, her mind still foggy as she heard yelling above her. It sounded like Diachi and Etsuko...

Suddenly, the floorboards where ripped up revealing a hole. The brightness blinded Mai slightly, and made her headache even worse, but was able to notice Megumi, who she assumed was the blond, blue-eyed girl nearest to her, and eight other girls around her. All of them also had their hands tied behind their backs. Diachi reached down and brought Mai out. Her eyes widened fearfully as Etsuko covered the hole again.

"Get her out of here right now!" Etsuko ordered. "Get rid of her, shoot her, strangle her, I don't care. Her stupid little team is coming, and if we're going to jail, we're going to make them pay for ever revealing us." Diachi looked down at Mai, a twisted smile on his face as he wrapped his fingers around her throat. Slowly, he began to squeeze, and she began gasping.

"This is what happens when you meddle in the affairs of grownups." Etsuko smirked, almost like she was enjoyed watching the life drain from Mais' face. "It always comes to bite you in the ass."

Mai always thought that she knew what evil was. Urado, the one who believed that blood would keep him living. He was evil. Akuma, the lady who beat and locked away teenagers and children for no reason at all. She was evil. But they were dead. They had been exorcised by her friends, never to bother anyone ever again.

But the two in front of her, they were _alive. _They've held nine girls hostage for months, they planned on selling them for money. They intentionally set fire to Moriko, and continued to stab her when she was still alive. And they had the guts to tell Ichiru his mom died in an accident from a leaky stove, with no body to be found. The pretended to feel bad, to show sympathy towards Ichiru. He didn't know that his father and 'Auntie' were doing this. They had lied the entire time.

_That _was true evil.

Mai gasped, and began making a strange choking noise. Her arms pulled at the ropes around her wrists, instinct telling her to claw the mans eyes out. She began to cry when she realized that she was going to die right here and now, never to see any of her friends ever again. Lin, Ayako, Monk, Yasu, Masako, even Emi, even though she only knew the girl for a week or so. But to Mai, she already felt like another member to her 'family'.

And Naru... Naru the narcissist. She would never get to call him that silly nickname again. She would never get to see him smirk with his signature, know-it-all smirk, or hear him tell her how stupid she was when she didn't know something, or order her to make him his tea, like always. She cried harder when she remembered the small smile that adorned his face after they had completed the case at Rokuryo High School.

"_I'll never get to see that smile ever again..." _Mai thought, feeling small dots forming over her vision as life slipped away. She felt her arms slow their struggles to fight back, and her heart began to beat more slowly. Everything became hazy.

"Mai!"

"_Naru...?" _she wondered. "_Or am I hearing Gene?"_

The weight of Diachi was lifted off her suddenly with shouts of exclamation from both SPR and Etsuko. Mai fell limply to the ground, her eyelid cracked open slightly. She could make out Naru beating his fist into Diachis face. Never once did Mai see Naru in such a fury. Mai heard footsteps coming near her, and she began to cough, taking gasps to get air into her lungs.

"This is ridiculous." Etsuko growled as she reached into her purse and pulled out a gun. She pulled Mai up by the arm, pointing the gun at her head. "Everyone against the wall, or she's eating bullets." Mai noticed Monk and Emi had shared a glance, before both backed slowly towards the wall, although she noticed that Emis' eyes were hazel. Narus' jaw twitched for a moment, before admitting defeat and backing away from pounding Diachis face in, and placing himself between Monk and Emi. His eyes never wavering away from the gun.

"_Where are Lin and Ayako...?" _Mai wondered momentarily.

"I don't know how you did it, but you figured us out." Etsuko said. "Yes, me Diachi were in a relationship, even before he married Moriko. Yes, we did stage the fire and then murdered her at our own hands. And yes, we were kidnapping young females and planned on selling them for five million-"

"Seven, now." Diachi cut in with a greedy smirk.

"Forgive me, _seven million _yen." she let out a long, regretful sigh. "It didn't have to end up like this, you know. All you had to do was get rid of the ghosts, get paid, and be on your merry little way. Now we have to kill the men and sell the women." Etsuko looked up. "Not that that's a bad thing."

Mai noticed Naru reach into his pockets, slowly and carefully.

_"_Hey, hands where we can see 'em." Diachi said, looking directly at Naru. "Or you'll be searching for your girlfriend with that fancy equipment of yours instead of Moriko!" Naru said nothing as he withdrew his hands from his jacket pocket, and revealed one of the digital recorders.

"I've just recorded everything you said." Naru stated simply. "And I can easily hand this over to the police, and have you charged with murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and illegally selling items over blackmarket." he looked at them with cool, dark eyes. "That could easily get you life in prison, if not the death penalty, don't you think?" Mai gulped as the gun twitched by her hand. They knew the consequences were high if that recording got out. "But I'll make a deal. You give me Mai, and I'll give you this recorder with a _full confession _of everything you did and planned on doing."

"Give me the recorder." Etsuko immediately demanded.

"Mai first." Naru countered. Etsuko let out what sounded like a cross between a growl and a shout of frustration, and shoved Mai forward. Naru caught her while simultaneously tossing the recording to Etsuko, who promptly crushed it under her high-healed shoe.

Police sirens began to blare outside. Etsuko snapped her head to the direction of the sound, and Diachis face suddenly turned a very angry shade of red.

"You called the cops?!" Diachi roared.

"I don't believe any of us had moved from this room since we walked in." Naru said, looking up momentarily from untying Mai. Etsuko widened her eyes, remembering Ayako and Lin.

"Them." she hissed. She raised the gun. "I said I'd make you suffer for finding us out. Let's see how miserable it will be for you to attend Mais' funeral!" It all seemed to happen so fast to Mai. Emi collapsed out of the corner of her eye, and Naru pushed her behind him. Monk shouted something as the bullet came flying.

But it never came.

Just inches from Narus face, a pan came out of nowhere. The bullet ricocheted and hit the floorboards. Suddenly, spirit formed in front of them, even Diachi and Etsuko could see her, for their eyes widened. Her long brown hair was tangled, an old T-shirt and flannel pants adorned her body. Her eyes, a bright, raging hazel.

"Moriko," Diachi whispered. Etsuko said nothing, staring, mouth agape. Moriko merely shut her eyes, and shook her head in disappointment. Knives formed in the doorway from out of nowhere. Slowly, they began to twist dangerously like a tornado, swirling around Diachi and Etsuko, both shrieking in fear. The gun dropped to the ground, another force pushing it across the room a safe distance from those who planned on shooting it.

Footsteps banged down the hallway, and the knives disappeared, along with Moriko. Cops burst into the doorway, immediately arresting Etsuko and Diachi upon Narus orders.

"What's wrong with her?" one of the policemen pointed towards Emi, who was still unconscious on the floor.

"She was possessed by a spirit that was haunting the property, and thus fainted upon regaining control of her body." Naru stated simply, like it was the most normal thing in the world. The policeman blinked, before shaking his head.

"I'm going to have to take you all into questioning. One of you called, saying you found a bloody knife in the backyard with a body."

"I can assure you, my assistant knows nothing," he waved his arm towards Mai. "All she did was watched the monitors all day, so she probably doesn't even know about us even digging in the backyard, since there was no camera."

"But she was a kidnap victim." the policeman countered. "She must at least know where to find..."

"Megumi?!" Mai called down as she tried to rip away some floorboards. The policemen glanced at each other, and began to help the girl. Rather quickly, they unearthed the hidden hole. The police quickly shooed Mai away, pulling the girls from the prison.

"We're going to have to ask you to leave." the lead investigator said, gesturing towards the door. He glanced at Emi, his eyes moving to Mai. "Do either need medical attention?"

"No." Naru answered. "I'm sure they'll both be fine."

"Again, about leaving...?"

"Yeah, yeah, we got the message." Monk muttered, picking Emi up off the floor. They all left the room quickly while investigators continued their work.

"Wait a minute..." Mai said thoughtfully. "They crushed the recording of their confession. How can it be proven that they actually where planning this?" Naru looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.

"All of our recorders are digital and are connected wirelessly to our computers. Any information we catch on them is automatically stored into this case file on our computers."

"Oh." Mai said. She should've known that! Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his midsection.

"Mai, what are-"

"Thanks." she said, interrupting him. "Thanks for saving me." Naru said nothing.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." he answered as he gently pushed her off him, and walked back towards base. Mai watched him leave, and for some reason, couldn't help but smile. Replaying the events in her head, she realized something. As Naru basically began to beat the crap out of Diachi, she couldn't help but notice the amount of pure rage that was written across his features. In fact, that was the most emotion she's ever seen him reveal. And he was also willing to take a bullet for her too...

Perhaps Naru had some form of emotion in him other than arrogance.

o.0.o.0.o

The nine other girls were malnourished, some suffering from shock. All were sent to the hospital for treatment, where SPR was assured that they would most likely get well and be reunited with their families. Somehow, Naru convinced the cops _not _to show or mention SPR or any of its employees on the news and not to have any of them testify in trial against Etsuko or Diachi. How he managed this, no one knew.

Ichiru was shocked to learn that his mother was, in fact, murdered, and everything that he was revealed about his father and 'Auntie'. His grandparents gladly accepted the responsibility of caring for Ichiru until he was old enough and well enough to handle life on his own. He would be attending counseling for the next few months to get over his initial shock, but once that was done, the diner would be up and running again, with him as assistant manager.

Emi had, in fact, woken up from the possession, and promptly threw up afterwards. Once done, she explained to SPR that the reason she never opened herself to temporary possession was because every time she got possessed, she became incredibly sick after the spirit released it's hold on her. No one knew why this was, but it was suspected by Naru that since she is always astro-projecting herself, her body has grown accustomed to having her spirit come and go all the time. When another spirit enters her body, her powers begin to go into overtime trying to force it out. When it doesn't work, and the spirit decides to leave or is exorcised, her powers are still going in overdrive, thus making her sick when she gets over it. No one argued with the explanation since it made the most sense.

Now they were packing up and getting ready to leave. Mai was told to simply sit in base with Emi, who was still disoriented from the possession.

"I feel like crap." Emi stated bluntly as she came back from puking once again.

"Well, that's understandable..." Mai said as she passed Emi some water.

"I think I'm done." Emi muttered. "Man, I hate this! I can't believe all the stuff we figured out. Ten missing person cases, a blackmarket deal, and an unknown murder! And it's all because of you!"

"C'mon, everyone else helped." Mai said, watching as Monk came in, grabbed a monitor, and walked out. Emi blinked, and shook her head.

"You're to modest, Mai. All I did was sense a spirit and get possessed. You had the dreams that lead to the murder, you revealed Diachis and Etsukos plan."

"Yes, but lets not forget I also got myself kidnapped and held hostage."

"And had Naru save you."

"Eh, how'd you know that? You were possessed!" Mai exclaimed, pointing her finger accusingly at Emi. The psychic girl smiled.

"Oh, you know, Moriko was kind enough to leave me with a few memories." Emi smirked. "I can't wait to start teasing you two!"

"Please don't." Mai groaned. Something dawned on her. Emi and her had talked about her and Narus supposed 'relationship' at the end of the last case! "Is this going to become a regular thing or something?" Emi tipped her head to the side innocently.

"What will become a regular thing?"

"You know what I'm talking about! Stop playing dumb!"

"Playing..." Emi trailed off, mustering the best puppy-dog eyes she could. "Dumb?"

"Emi..." whined Mai. The taller girl laughed.

"What can I say? I love teasing you. It's fun."

"I swear, the minute you find a boyfriend..." Mai growled in a somewhat threatening manner. Emi waved her hand.

"Eh. I can live with it." Emi shrugged. She stood up, surprisingly better after she was vomiting her guts up just moments earlier. "Oh, and Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"These conversations _are_ going to become a regular thing."

o.0.o.0.o

**I hope this chapter makes up for the shortie earlier. ^.^ Thanks for the support, and continue to review!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	11. File 11: Open Wounds Part 1

**Hello, hello, hello! I am back, and we are now starting a new case! Is it weird that I can't stop thinking about writing this story?**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

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_File Eleven_

_Open Wounds_

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"Um, I'm looking for a Kazuya Shibuya." a man in front of Mai said. He was nervously wringing his yellow fishing hat in his hands, eyes glancing back and forth nervously. "I-I know I'm not crazy, and I know what I saw!"

"It's fine," Mai smiled at the nervous man. "Just take a seat, and I'll get my boss for you." Mai watched as he sat down on one of the chairs, and promptly knocked on Narus' door. "Hey, Naru. We've got a client." Naru opened his office door, and stepped out, Lin following. The nervous man got up, and turned towards Lin.

"Are you Mr. Shibuya?" he asked. Lin shook his head.

"I am merely an assistant. He," Lin nodded towards Naru. "Is Mr. Shibuya." the man seemed nonetheless phased by the fact that Naru was so young, and turned towards him.

"You've gotta help me! Something wacky is in my factory, and is hurting the employees!" the man cried out, on the verge of hysterics. Naru looked at the man, and gestured towards the chairs.

"Please take a seat and we will discuss case. Mai, prepare tea for Mr..."

"Ito," the man said. "Hibiki Ito." Mai nodded towards her boss, and quickly made the tea, bringing the tray out to the others. Hibiki took a long gulp from the cup. It seemed to calm him down a bit.

"So what has been happening thus far?"

"Well, I own a fish factory, just outside the city. When it first opened, nothing was wrong. In fact, it was so successful that people were scrambling to get a job, wether they were general manager or just sweeping up the mess in the employee cafeteria. Everyone wanted my fish!" Mr. Ito grinned with pride. "But you see, recently, everyone was quitting their jobs. The few who are left began to feel very sick, much like someone was sticking a knife into them. And, recently, one of my best employees, Jorou, went blind."

Mai nearly dropped her teacup at this. Blind?!

"And before you ask, Jorou isn't some old janitor." Hibiki waved his hand in front of his face. "In fact, he's a young man, just out of college. He works as my accountant, and had perfect eyesight all his life. He slept through the night to finish some work, bless his soul, and woke up blind."

"No medical reasons whatsoever?" Naru asked.

"None. Doctors can't find any reasons for these sicknesses, and are baffled by Jorous' blindness. People are beginning to be afraid to buy my product because they think it's poisoned, and with no medical reason, I'm down to my last straw." Hibiki got up, and bowed so low towards Naru that Mai was sure that his nose would touch the coffee table. "Please come and investigate. I can't loose this business. Everything I own went into it, and I'll loose everything if the factory closes." Mai looked at the man in front of her, and then back at Naru, who seemed to be contemplating wether the case was worth taking or not.

"We'll accept this case," Naru decided. "But we'll need one room for our base, and several rooms for me and my team to sleep in."

"O-of course!" Mr. Ito said as he rose from his bow. "Thank you so, so much!"

o.0.o.0.o

"Ugh..." Emi grimaced as the scent of fresh fish wafted into her nose. "I swear Mai, I'm sending Boss my dry-cleaning bill." Mai shook her head with a laugh as they carried equipment up to the base. It was strange to Mai. She felt as if Emi was a sister to her, but she only knew her for a few days. Even though Mai was older by a year, Emi seemed to act like the older sister to Mai. Mai wasn't sure if it was because of the sisterly teasing or the fact that the sixteen-year-old practically towered over her.

They walked into base, and noticed Naru talking to Mr. Ito along with another girl close to their age. Mai couldn't help but admit that she was pretty, with her long dark hair and bright blue eyes. What infuriated her slightly was the huge, puppy dog eyes she was sending towards Naru, as of saying 'feel bad for me, we're being haunted by a crazy ghost!'. Mai wouldn't be surprised if the girl began crying or something.

"Ah, Mai!" Mr. Ito said as he waved them over. "This is my only child, Kanon. Kanon, this is Mai Taniyama and..." he trailed off, glancing at Emi.

"Name's Emi." Emi said, thrusting her hand out. Mr. Ito took her hand, giving it a shake. "I'm SPRs' psychic."

"Psychic, huh?" Kanon asked with a smile. "So you can see ghosts and stuff like that?"

"Basically." Emi shrugged as she turned towards Kanon.

"Anyways, Kanon here would be happy to show you around, tell you the places where we get a lot of activity."

"If you need help with anything, I don't mind." Kanon chimed in.

"Okay then. Mai, temperature readings. Go with Emi and while they do a walkthrough."

"Okay!" Emi said for all three of them. Mai accepted the usual clipboard while Emi received the walkie-talkie.

"So... you guys do this everyday?" Kanon asked as she watched the duo continue on with their work.

"Well, every time we have a case, we have to get the average temperature readings of every room. When spirits appear, the temperature drops." Mai explained.

"And I do have to walk around like this everyday." Emi said from her leaning position against the wall. "I basically tell all of them where ghosts like to hide out."

"All the rooms?" Kanon asked, almost nervously.

"Yeah." Mai said.

"Um... can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Emi said, following Mai out of the room.

"Do you believe in heaven?"

"Of course!" Emi answered.

"Then you also have to believe in hell, right?"

"Well, for every good thing there's a bad thing. Yin and Yang." Mai said thoughtfully.

"What if I told you that there's a portal to both in this building?" Kanon asked seriously. Emi and Mai looked at each other and back at Kanon in shock.

"What?!"

o.0.o.0.o

**Quickie updates! Yays!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	12. File 11: Open Wounds Part 2

**Another update! Man, I'm flying through typing...**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt.**

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_File Eleven_

_Open Wounds_

o.0.o.0.o

"Kanon, this isn't something to joke about." Emi said seriously, placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm not joking." Kanon said. "There's a rumor about it at an old shed 'round the back. A bunch of the original employees found some diary entries dated way back, like World War Two, back."

"Do you still have the diaries?" Mai asked. Kanon shook her head.

"It's a long story." Kanon said, waving them in a direction. "See, when they unearthed the diaries, they said some wacky things began to happen. They all thought that it was because the entries were harboring restless spirits from the war, and decided to burn them."

"All of them?" Mai asked in mild shock.

"All the one's they found. I'm not sure if there's more or not, I never took the time to look." she shuddered. "That place is creepy. I don't know if it's the rumors or the fact that something really _is _there."

"Rumors?" Emi asked.

"Yeah, tons. This place wasn't originally a factory, you know." Kanon said. "It was once a hospital during the war. Apparently, a lot of soldiers committed suicide by over-medicating, so people say that there are tons of those guys here." They exited the building, and walked towards an old storage shed. "I once heard something about satanic rituals, but never really thought about it. They were only rumors." Both Mai and Emi widened their eyes. Satanic rituals?

"Kanon, are you sure about that?" Emi asked quietly.

"Well, no one's really _sure _about it, like I said before, only rumors." Kanon shrugged, and unlocked the door to the large storage shed. "This is the place." Mai felt a haunting presence hanging over her, as if screaming for her to leave. Emi shuddered.

"I don't like it here." Emi said, looking around. "I don't like it at all."

"No one really comes in here anymore." Kanon explained. "They say things are always moving around, and shadows can be seen out of the corner of their eyes. Along with the creepy atmosphere, only those paranormal fanatics come in."

"Paranormal fanatics?" Mai asked in alarm. Kanon looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. A while back, a bunch of teenagers came into this shed here to tell ghost stories for fun. I guess they got bolder and bolder, and I heard that they used an ouija board in here once or twice." she led them further into the shed, and into a room that was rather strange to Mai. There was a huge well in the middle, yet no water ran below it. Off to the side, a staircase led to nowhere. "This is where those portals are. The rumors say that the well is a portal to Hell, whereas the staircase that goes to nowhere leads to heaven."

"Man, I don't like it here." Emi said again, shuddering and wrapping her arms around herself. "Can we leave?" Kanon blinked.

"Well sure. I didn't think you'd be so bad as to chicken out." Kanon shrugged. "Maybe I'm just used to it."

o.0.o.0.o

"Those _idiots!" _Emi practically roared as she stampeded into base. Everyone jumped a little at her outburst, and watched as she chugged a water bottle from her bag.

"Um... Emi?" John asked gently. Emi responded by slamming her water bottle down.

"They were telling ghost stories in an old shed outback. I know they can attract small spirits, nothing to really worry about. But then they tell me they're using a freaking _ouija board?!" _Just for the record, Emi did not use the word 'freaking'. "My _God. _They're opening portals_. Portals!"_

"Portals?" Ayako asked. "Portals to where?" Emi looked up with mild surprise on her face, and looked down, as if she felt she said to much.

"Portals." Emi said. "Portals to-" she stopped, tensing a little, as she looked at Mai.

"Emi?" Mai asked, watching as her eyes traveled down to Mais' feet.

"Mai-!" Emi never got to finish as Mai felt something yank her by her feet and out the door. She shrieked as she was dragged across the factory grounds. "Don't let her get to the shed! Don't let them take her there!" Emi shouted. Mai dug her fingernails into the concrete, trying to stop the force that was dragging her.

"_No, no, don't try and resist, there's something wrong with your eyes! We have to fix your eyes!" _a ghostly female voice screamed into her ear. "_We'll go to the surgeons quarters, we'll fix you into fighting shape again!"_

"But there's nothing wrong with me!" Mai shouted as she was going closer towards the door.

"_Your eyes, we have to fix your eyes!"_

Mai screamed again as another ghostly figure appeared over her, only this time a teenage male. He was close to Narus' height, and had long, chin-length brown hair. He was wearing a simple black T-shirt and jeans. Instead of attacking her, however, the boy attacked the spirit.

"_No!" _the spirit lady shouted, shoving the spirit-boy off her. Mai watched as he faded away. "_Let me fix her eyes!" _The lady placed a hand over her eyes. Mai screamed, clawing at her face, trying to get the cold pressure off her face. Slowly, the pressure left, and Mai guessed the spirit left also.

"Mai!" Naru ran towards the girl, her figure kneeling just at the doorframe, her hand feeling at her face.

"Thank the lord she didn't get you out of here." Emi sighed with relief. "I don't know what we would've done..."

"Naru? Emi?" Mai groped at the air in front of her. "Naru?!"

"I'm here." Naru said, kneeling beside Mai. "Emi is, too."

"I can't see!" Mai exclaimed, her hand still groping for some contact with the two people in front of her. "Why can't I see?!" Mai began to cry hysterically.

"Emi, go find Ms. Matsuzaki." Naru demanded. Emi said nothing as she jogged off. "Mai, listen to me," Naru grabbed the girls shoulders. "You need to calm down, and tell me exactly what happened." Mai was still crying, but nonetheless was no longer hysteric. Naru figured this was as calm as she was going to get, considering she just lost the ability to see.

"She wanted to fix my eyes." Mai said. "She kept telling me she was going to fix my eyes. And then she tried to drag me out the door, and when I wouldn't go, she placed a hand over my face, and then I couldn't see." Mai said between voice cracks and sobs. For some reason, she left out the part about the teenage boy trying to fight the ghost off. Naru didn't need to know that, did he?

"And that's all?" Naru asked.

"Everything."

"_Funny," _Naru thought, staring at the girls eyes "_Why do I feel she's not telling me something...?"_ He shook the thought out of his head, and noticed how strange it was that her eyes looked exactly like that of a blind persons. It scared him not to see the smile that always shown in those brown orbs. Not even a glimmer. Just misted brown staring strait ahead.

"Mai!" Ayako was running towards them, despite the heels that the miko always wore. Mai turned towards the sound of her voice.

"Ayako?" Mai asked.

"Yes, Mai, it's me. Emi told us everything. Are you okay?"

"Well, obviously not." Naru said, taking Mais' hand and standing up. Mai slowly got off the ground. "She can't see."

"Thank you for informing me of that." Ayako muttered under her breath.

"Take her back to base. Until we find a way to reverse whatever the ghost did to her, I want her under constant surveillance. She can't be by herself, and is forbidden to leave base. I want her under lock and key."

"Lock and key?" Mai whined. "Naru-"

"Don't tell me it's not that bad, don't tell me you're fine, you just lost one of your five senses." Naru demanded angrily. "We know nothing about this spirit other than it was summoned by an ouija board and some ghost stories, and for some reason, it's making people incredibly sick, or in you case, blind." Naru began to drag Mai back to base, still holding her hand.

"Hey, Naru," Monk stuck his head out the door. "We've got problems."

"What now?" Naru asked, entering the base with Ayako leading Mai to the couch.

"Emis' sick. She began puking a little bit after Ayako left." Monk pointed over his shoulder at the small bathroom that was connected to the room they had base set up in. They heard the girl heaving into the toilet. "I think she started to dry heave."

"Naru." Lin gestured towards the laptop he was currently on. "I pulled up the case file, and I know I didn't type this." Naru leaned over his shoulder, reading the message while Emi stepped out of the bathroom.

_Foolish girls! You stumbled upon my ground. You know my secrets. Watch as they slowly wither away, idiotic humans, watch!_

"What the...?" Lin trailed off, watching as the screen began to flash between several different colors at once. Slowly, the face of a woman appeared. Her lips turned into a huge, nasty smirk, although what she had or eyes were nothing but dark holes, no eyeballs within the sockets. She laughed, a horrible cackle, and Emi shrieked, screaming bloody murder.

"Turn it off!" Naru exclaimed.

"I'm trying!" Lin countered. He touched the keyboard, and pulled his hand back with a his. "Get down, it's gonna blow!" Everyone dove to the ground, Naru bringing Mai down with him. Suddenly, the computer exploded. Light bulbs burst above their heads, sending SPR into total darkness.

o.0.o.0.o

**I really need to find a way to get over the cliffhanger addiction...**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	13. File 11: Open Wounds Part 3

**Hiya!**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 11_

_Open Wounds_

o.0.o.0.o

"Gimme a second..." Monk muttered under his breath. Everyone heard him digging through his pockets. Suddenly, a spark of a flame lit, revealing his face. "Everyone okay?"

"Sure, but why do you have a lighter?" Ayako answered.

"The same reason I keep a pocket knife on me." Emi said somewhere to the right. "Ya never know when you'll need it." there was a small silence.

"Did this happen everywhere or only in this room?" Naru asked, lifting himself from Mai.

"Um..." John opened the door, revealing more darkness. Nothing seemed to be electronically working. Slowly, emergency lights lit up the dim hallway, although not as bright as one would like. Really, all it did was cast eerie shadows across the walls."Yup."

"Lin, flashlights." Naru ordered. The tall Chinese man passed several flashlights to Naru, who continue to pass them off to everyone else. Soon, lights flickered about, revealing everyones faces.

"Naru?" Mai asked. Naru responded by taking her hand.

"Um..." Emi glanced at her flashlight, watching as it flickered. "I think the batteries are dead."

"Impossible, we changed them just last night." Naru countered. Emis light flickered out.

"Dead." Emi said bluntly, smacking the device against her palm. She had a coughing fit, and continued to try to get the flashlight working again.

"Emi, you okay?" John asked as Emi began coughing harder.

"Just... fine." Emi said between fits. She pushed past everyone and into the bathroom, where she began to dry heave again. Ayako went in after her, holding her hair out of her face as something came up.

"Guys, call the hospital, she's coughing up blood." Ayako ordered.

"N-no need." Emi managed as she dry-heaved again. "Damn spirit." she began coughing again. "Bible. In bag." she gasped. Monk opened the girls drawstring bag, pulling out the worn-down book. He passed it Ayako, who passed it to Emi. As soon as the book touched the psychic girls hands, a long, low growl rang out. The growling stopped, and a heavy silence filled the air.

"Everyone okay in here?" Hibiki asked as he peeked his head in.

"We'll be fine." Naru answered.

"We're working to fix up the lights, sorry if it interferes with your investigation." after Hibiki left, Emi came out.

"This was blessed and owned by Father Michel." Emi stated. She looked down forlornly at the Bible. "He was a very dear friend of mine."

"So whatever's haunting here fears God." John stated.

"That that means you'll have the best chance at forcing it out." Monk said.

"But what about Mai?" Ayako asked. "If we drive the spirit out, will her sight come back, or is it gone forever?" No one said anything.

"No one has an answer?" Mai asked. "There's gotta be a way! I don't want to be stuck blind!" Everyone remained silent. "Naru?" Mai practically begged. "You always have an answer! You always know how to fix the problem! How can we fix this?" Naru took his chin in his hand, thinking intently before shaking his hand, knowing full well that Mai couldn't see the action.

"Emi, you said something about portals before the power went out?" Naru asked. Emi blinked.

"Yeah, there're portals out in that old shed Kanon told us. That's where the spirit is resting right now. I guess making Mai go blind and making me sick took up some energy. Then I brought out a bible, and shoved her back." Emi shuddered. "I wouldn't go in there, though, unless you want to be blind or sick."

"Ms. Matsuzaki, go set up charms so that the spirit can't escape the shed." Naru ordered. "Monk, I want you to go with her. John, stay here at base with Emi and Mai. Lin, we're going to the archives to find out more information about the property.

"It was a World War Two hospital, if that helps." Emi chirped. Naru nodded.

"Hey, Naru, you didn't answer my question!" Mai exclaimed, jumping up. "How do you plan on helping me?" Naru said nothing as he walked out the door. "Naru? Naru!" Mai shouted infuriated. "NARU!"

o.0.o.0.o

_"What the?" Mai muttered as she stumbled about. "Emi?! John?!"_

_"Mai?" Emi turned towards Gene, happy to know she could at least see in her dreams._

_"Gene." she breathed out in relief. "How's the manifesting going?"_

_"Good, I guess. Emi keeps on sensing me and tries to point me out to everyone else. I don't want Noll to know that I can be with him... I don't know which he would react to worse, you hiding the fact that I an appear in front of him, or the fact that I'm purposefully messing with him!"_

_"I understand." Mai nodded with a smile. "So, you wanted to show me something?"_

_"Yeah, c'mon." Gene grabbed her hand, and the scene shifted. She recognized the area, it was the factory. But there were hospital beds everywhere, injured soldiers remaining quiet as possible. Nurses walked down the isles of cots, waiting for someone to move, make a noise. It was then Mai noticed all of them were tied down to their beds._

_"What is this?" Mai whispered. Gene said nothing, staring steadily forward. One young male, perhaps maybe a year or so older than Gene and Naru let out a long groan of pain, tears appearing in his eyes._

_All the nurses turned in his direction, the leader smiling wickedly. They said nothing as they took his cot, and began to roll him out of the room. He screamed bloody murder, pulling at his restraints, jerking against the cot. Despite all this, none of the other soldiers said or did anything, the nurses seemingly ignoring his struggles._

_Gene remained silent as the scene shifted again, this time the outside of the shed. It was dark, and Mai saw a huge bonfire crackling a few feet away from the wooden building. She assumed it was the nurses wearing black cloaks, hoods over their heads, circling around the fire and chanting something in a language that she didn't recognize. The young man from before had his hands tied above his head at a wooden pole, shirtless, and gagged. His eyes searched frantically for means to escape the horror, but even if he did get free, Mai knew that his leg that hung limply from infection wouldn't get him far._

_One nurse came forward, holding a large butcher knife. Mai gasped and covered her face as she heard the most unimaginable noise come from the mans throat. It was horrifying, like they were trying to cut his limbs off while he was conscious._

_Slowly and hesitantly, Mai opened her eyes, and nearly vomited as she saw the nurse toss two legs into the fire. She was spot on about sawing off limbs. She didn't dare look at the man, who was somehow still alive, but saw the amount of blood under him._

_"Gene, I want to wake up now." Mai said covering her face as they dragged the man into the shed. They began chanting from inside the building, becoming louder, and louder as Mai heard something from inside that was ten times as worse than before. Then something that could not, in anyways possible, be human."Gene! I wanna wake up!" she turned towards him, gasping to see that her spirit guide wasn't responding. He simply stared ahead, almost as if in a frozen stance. "Gene! Gene, whats wrong?!"_

_"Gene, Gene..." a voice laughed cruelly behind her. "Lucifer will be happy tonight."_

_"Gene..." Mai turned, still pulling at Genes sleeve, trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. It was the nurse who had blinded her, except she was holding a human head. Blood still dripped from it, but Mai knew who's it was. "NARU!"_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai bolted awake, her head whipping around, trying to see her surroundings. She began to panic, remembering she couldn't even see to begin with. She wanted to see something else, not the horrid image imbedded into her mind from the dream.

"Mai?" Lin stood calmly from his computer, walking towards her.

"Lin? You're back? Where's Naru? Where's everyone else?"

"Ayako and Monk are still setting up charms. Emi and Naru are doing a walkthrough, and John is blessing every room in this factory."

"By himself?" Mai asked uncertainly. If the spirit here was willing to attack when she was around people, what would she do to someone who's alone?

"Don't worry, the spirits can't touch John." Lin said, as if reading her mind. "Remember, they fear the glory of God. Even if they could get through to him or the others, my shiki are watching over them."

"So you're taking part even though you're just sitting at a monitor." Mai said thoughtfully. "That's cool!"

"Did you dream?" Lin asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Gene was there too."

"Oh. How's he doing?"

"Well, I think." Mai said. She heard the small squeaks of the rolling chair being pushed away from the desk, indicating that Lin had turned towards her.

"I think?"

"It was weird. He kinda froze up in the middle of the dream, like when a computer freezes. It was scary."

"What did you dream about?" Lin asked, clicking something on his computer. Mai knew that he was readying himself to type her dream into the case file. She continued to describe the dream in detail, up to the point where Gene froze up.

"Um, Lin, can we keep the part about Gene freezing up a secret from Naru? I think that it would scare him, thinking that Gene was in trouble..." Lin responded by deleting a few things.

"I'll keep Gene out of the dream, _this _time. If it happens again, we should alert Naru."

"_Trust me, _**_that _**_was a one-time thing."_

"Gene?" Mai asked as she turned towards the voice.

"_The one and only. Well, besides my twin, though." _Mai could practically see his joking smile.

"He's fine, Lin." Mai said. She waved her hand in the direction of his voice. "He was just over there."

"_Now I'm over here~!" _Gene sang happily. "_Hey, hey, Mr. Lin! Have you been taking good care of my little brother?"_

"He's by me, isn't he?" Lin asked bluntly, still typing something into the computer.

"I guess." Mai shrugged. "How'd you know?"

"It's cold."

"Oh." Mai said stupidly. "So what did you find out from the archives?"

"Kanon was right when she said that this was a hospital during the war," Lin said. "But it had a bad reputation. Nurses here did what they want, and hardly cared for the patients. Lack of food, water, and common morality."

"How bad?" Mai asked, remembering her dream.

"Lets just say that the soldiers would've been better off as Prisoners of War." Lin said, pulling up a document on his computer. "The rumors about the satanic rituals were true, too. Apparently, they choose a victim, sawed off his or her limbs while they were still awake, and continued to saw off their heads, using their blood and limbs as a sacrifice for Satan."

"All while they're awake...?" Mai asked, horrified.

"That was what they suspected." Lin said, continuing reading the article. "Although, with lack of technology and, therefor, evidence, they only convicted one female nurse, whom all the other nurses ratted out as the 'leader' of the rituals. She was hung for her crimes."

"_Lin," _Naru said over the walkie talkie. "_Is Emi on any of our cameras?" _Lin raised his eyebrow slightly, and glanced at all the monitors.

"No, she's not in any visible range." Lin answered.

"_Lin, Naru, Emi forced her way into the shed!" _Ayako yelled frantically from another walkie-talkie. They heard a grunt and a thud.

"_The door's jammed!" _Monk exclaimed.

"_Everyone, remain calm." _Naru said. "_Lin, bring John to the shed, I'm fearing that Emi is her next sacrifice."_

_"Sacrifice?!" _exclaimed Ayako. "_What in the world are you guys talking about?!"_

"What about Mai?" Lin responded, just as calm. There was silence on the other end.

"_... Bring her. We're ending this case tonight."_

o.0.o.0.o

**Sooo... an update. Yep. Um... Peace to da world, reviewers! ^-^**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	14. File 11: Open Wounds Part 4

**Hello, hello, hello! Another chapter! ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 11_

_Open Wounds_

o.0.o.0.o

Emi was floating, floating in air. It was strange. She didn't know this place. It was completely white, no color at all. And it was driving her up the wall.

"Where the hell am I?!" she yelled. "Short-Stop? Boss? Lin?" she walked around some more, and let out a huff. "Where are my freakishly awesome co-workers when I need them?"

o.0.o.0.o

All of SPR stood outside the door of the shed, John ready for an exorcism. Monk was still trying to break the door open, but was unsuccessful.

"Okay, that's it!" Monk yelled, completely enraged at the fact that the door wouldn't open. "Stupid spirit, let us in!"

"As you wish, stupid monk..._" _Monks raging stopped as Emis voice echoed into their ears. Slowly, the door creaked open. Darkness awaiting within(**A/N Yeah, yeah, totally cliché. Shoot me.**).

"You guys heard her too, right?" Mai asked for confirmation. No one said anything, so she took it as a yes. Naru stepped inside, dragging her behind him. Everyone else followed nervously.

"It's dark." Ayako said nervously.

"What is it? Is the little princess afraid of the dark?" Monk said teasingly.

"No! It's the fact that we have a portal to Hell in this place! And this darkness is weird!" Ayako yelled angrily, socking the monk on the head.

"How could it be 'weird'? It's just the dark." Monk said with a shrug of his shoulders, despite the punch he received earlier.

"She has a point though." John said. "It doesn't feel like it's just the fact that there's no lights on or little sunlight. It feels like this darkness wants to swallow us."

"Maybe that's because that's exactly what's going to happen, _Father Brown_." Emis voice sneered. "Come deeper if you all want to find me, I think the blind girl has a good idea where I am." Mai looked down at this. Yes, she had an idea where she was. She just didn't want to go there, for as sure as she was that Emi was there, she was equally sure one of them wasn't going to come out completely unscathed.

"It's the well room." Mai whispered.

"The well room?" Naru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, where are my manners? I don't believe you've seen that room, and of course, your little friend has lost her sight." Emis voice rang out again, then a low chuckle. "Then follow the screams of the this girl!" Suddenly, a shriek ran out, although, this sounded more like Emi, not the sarcastic, evil spirit that seemed to be either A) Controlling her body or B) Mimicking her voice. Everyone rushed in the direction, tripping over random items along the way.

Slightly black and blue, SPR somehow got into the 'well room', and suddenly wished that they were back in the creepy dark hallways.

Yes, Emi was here, but even someone from across the country could tell that she wasn't exactly herself. A pentagram glowed green under her, and she stood in the very middle. One hand was placed on her hip, and the other was pointed into the air, her scream still echoing across the walls. Perhaps the most noticeable was that her eyes were a deep crimson red. A very dark, evil smirk stretched across her face. Slowly, she snapped her fingers, and the screaming stopped.

"You know what that sound was?" she asked. "That was the sound of suffering in Hell. Isn't it wonderful?"

"You have no right to Emi." John said, holy water in hand. "Begone."

"Or what? You'll splash some water onto me?" 'Emi' smirked. "_Terrifying. _The little boy thinks he can stand up to me." her smirk grew as she stepped forward, to the edges of the pentagram, nearly face-to-face with John. "Listen, we all want the same thing. Power. Seeing that I have some, I've come to realize that I don't have enough. Not enough," she studied her fingernails, as if they were discussing something normal like the weather. "To summon the most powerful demons to my control."

"So what does any of this have to do with possessing Emi?!" Mai cried out. 'Emi' looked up, almost bored with the situation.

"First off, when you say possess, you think: 'Oh dear, this bitch took over another bitch and forced the second one to be out of commission'. Really, it goes more like this: 'Dumb girl who can astro project. Dumb girl astro projects. Dumb girl runs into me. Dumb girl attempts to fight me off, which she did very well at. And then, poof!" she threw her hands into the air and brought them down, smirking. "Dumb girl disappears, leaving behind a perfectly fine body with no spirit."

"Where's Emi?!" Mai demanded.

"You really want to know?" 'Emi' sneered, and looked over at Mai. She flinched, feeling her heavy gaze. "I can show you more than where your friend is. I can give you back your sight, bring you to the gates of power, unlock your true potential. In fact..." Emi snapped her fingers. Slowly, two white mists in the shape of people began to form around her. Slowly, they took shape, and it hit SPR knowing that the woman bore a striking resemblance to Mai, whereas the man had the same exact eyes as the her. "I can even bring back two people you hold very dear to your heart."

The woman smiled, and said something inaudible to the the rest of SPR. But Mai heard it. Her hands flew to her mouth, tears brimming around her eyes.

"Mommy?" she whispered, almost childishly. The man nodded, and said something, also inaudible. "Papa, too?" She shuffled her feet a bit, and came forward a step, but hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" 'Emi' asked. "Your mother and father are right in front of you. You can join them, be with them again." Mai paused, and then bolted forward, only to be stopped by Naru, who grabbed her wrist.

"Who...?"

"Mai, it's not them. Their spirits are gone, and they aren't ever coming back." Naru said calmly. 'Emi' turned her head to the side, smirking, eyes closed.

"How cruel. How can one live with themselves, keeping an orphaned girl away from her parents?" she looked up. "Come, Mai. Reunite with them."

"Mai, don't listen." Naru repeated. "They are never going to-"

"Come back?" Mai asked, looking down, eyes shaded. "Like you're one to talk! You believed the same thing about Gene, but here's a newsflash, he's my spirit guide, and he can manifest himself!" she wrenched her wrist free, turned, and ran.

"Mai, no!" Ayako yelled as John began reading from his Bible. The words of God were counteracted however, as Emi tilted her head down, eyes shaded, smirking.

"_Sacrificium diaboli exeunt, veni foras._

_Ne adducas sanguinem tantum, sed animi." _'Emi' began chanting, Mai stopping, almost like she couldn't move.

_"Anima vestra virtutem suam determinat._

_Anima vestra determinat potentiam suam._

_Determinat anima vestra dominatio eius." _'Emis' eyes began to glow red, the red piercing through the shadows covering them.

_"Frigidus, Frigidus, Frigidus et gemitu._

_Boare in labóribus vestras sicut cibus coquitur in cibo,_

_Et fit sicut sanguis tuus destillat a vulneribus tuis potum._

_Ut metu Quirites vos, ut ungues trahuntur a daemonibus._

_Clamo, donec extremum spiritum tuum, scientes quod mortua ut immolem." _Her head snapped up, and the pentagram glowed brighter and brighter, lighting the whole room. The well in the corner became surrounded in darkness.

_"Prodiit sacrificium Satanae et sapere in gloriam Deo!"_

And with those words, the building began to shake, and an unimaginable cackling began to fill the air. John screamed verses from the bible, but nothing seemed effective. All watched in horror as the possessed Emi, tipped her head back, and cackled.

"This is the age of a new era! This is the correct path!" she screamed. She grabbed a fistful of Mais hair, and pulled a butcher knife from her belt loop. Where or how she got it was a mystery to everyone else.

"Mai!" Monk yelled running forward.

"_No!" _Emi, the real, spiritual Emi, came barreling down the stairway that led to nowhere, launching herself in front of Monk.

"Emi, move!"

"_Don't even think about it! The minute you step in there, you're targeted as the next sacrifice! Only strong spirits can pass through unharmed!"_

"So what are we supposed to do?" Ayako demanded. "Sit here and watch as Mai gets killed?!" As if on cue, possessed Emi stabbed Mais upper arm, causing the girl to scream in agony. Possessed Emi stood up, taking the knife out, and raised it towards the sky, screaming some more in Latin.

"_Of course not! But I know that the minute I step into that pentagram, I'll be sucked down that hole there." _she gestured towards the well. "_And I won't be coming back anytime soon."_

"What do you need to get through?" Naru asked.

"_Two things. Your rosary, John and power."_

"Power...? As in, PK?" Monk asked. Emi looked down, and nodded.

"_I'm not sure how it works, but I think that if Naru can convert his power to me before he launches it, I can use it to power myself up so that I could attack her...it... uh... me, I guess. Then push her out with the holy rosary, and the power of the pentagram will die down enough for John to break it with an exorcism."_

"And how do you plan to protect you an Mai from this spirit if she comes charging again?" Lin asked. Emi glanced up at Naru. Strangely, the two seemed to convert a message to each other before Emi glanced at the rest of the group.

_"I have my own means of protecting myself." _Emi smirked. "_The choice is up to Naru." _Everyone glanced at their boss, who contemplated his choices. He looked up at the ghostly Emi.

"I'll do it."

"But Naru-" Lin began to protest.

"I said I'll do it, so I plan on doing it." Naru repeated seriously.

"It's just that," Ayako paused. "What if Emis' plan fails, and you end up like you did the last time you used your PK?"

"Or Emi could end up in a hospital bed." John pointed out.

"Or the plan could completely backfire, and none of you will make it at all." Monk said.

"Regardless of wether or not me or Emi ends up lying in a hospital bed, I'm sure we all know that if we _don't _do this, Mai will end up lying in a coffin." Naru glared. "And no one wants that to happen." Everyone looked forlorn, knowing the risks and consequences that all three could suffer if the plan worked or failed.

"_You ready, Boss?" _Emi asked. Naru nodded. "_Everyone against the wall. This might get a little hectic."_

She nodded towards Naru, and stood directly in front of the narcissist. Naru stood completely still, focusing on the girl in front of him. The air began to ripple around him as small silver and blue orbs began to appear and disappear around his form. Slowly, a large blue orb appeared in front of him, growing larger and larger until it was a little smaller than a soccer ball.

"_Perfect," _Emi mutter. She reached out and grabbed the orb before Naru could launch it at her. The effects of Narus PK stopped, and he stood unfazed. "_Get near the wall Naru, this might get a little bumpy." _Emi smirked, and turned towards her possessed body. "_Hey, asshole!" _Possessed Emi turned towards her spirit, distracted. Spirit Emi reared her arm back, like she was getting ready to throw the orb. "_Batter up!"_

o.0.o.0.o

"_My ears are going to bleed from everyones lectures after this..." _Mai thought dully as she held her injured arm. Should she be in shock right now? Maybe. Screaming on the floor? Probably. But she wasn't. Her arm was in so much pain, it was like the possessed Emi decided to pour magma into her wound. Thank god that she didn't decide to saw off her arm.

She glanced up, and saw Naru was using his PK. "_What is he thinking?! He's going to end up in the hospital again!"_

_"Hey asshole!" _

_"Emi?" _Mai thought.

"_Batter up!" _Suddenly, a blue orb came flying like a baseball at possessed Emi. It hit her in the stomach, and something... strange happened. The ghostly nurse got knocked out of Emis body, falling back a few feet. Emi bolted forward, into the pentagram, towards her body. She winced, and fell to one knee.

"_Stupid girl!" _the nurse cried, coming closer and closer to Emi. "_It must hurt, all the emotions of the one's before you, crying and screaming out to you, begging for help around every turn. But you know you can't help them without getting through me!"_

_"Then it looks like I've got something to get rid of." _Emi grunted. The nurse cackled.

"_What is it?" _the nurse cooed mockingly. "_Scared of the dark?" _Slowly, Emi lifted her arm, Johns rosary dangling from her hand. The nurse screeched at the holy item, and jumped back.

"_What is it?" _Emi asked, getting up, a smirk growing on her lips. "_Scared of the light?"_

_"Get away!" _the nurse cried.

"_Mmm... Nope!" _Emi walked forward. The nurse scrambled back, at the edge of the pentagram. She stopped, looking cautiously over her shoulder. "_What a predicament for you." _Emi continued._ "Leave the pentagram and be exorcised, or allow me to come closer for you to go through the light of God. Either way, you're finished."_

_"Please! Have mercy on me! I'm sorry!" _the nurse cried out.

"_If you were so sorry, then why did you keep it up? Why'd you kill, blind people, hurt people? You tricked Mai into believing her parents were here, you stole my body, and I know exactly what you had in mind for everyone in this factory, including my friends." _Emi put on a menacing glare as she stepped forward. "_I won't give you mercy. I don't pity you, and I'm not even going to feel bad when I do this."_ Emi suddenly thrust the rosary into the nurses' chest, where her heart would've been. She screeched as light spread throughout her. Several long shadows whipped out from around her, wrapping around Emis spiritual arm. Emi didn't release the rosary.

"_If I'm going to burn in Hell, I'm taking one of you with me!" _the nurse screamed. Emi was hardly phased at this, and made no effort to move her arm. The nurse screamed again, and sent her shadows towards Mai, who was just now pushing herself off the floor.

"_I wouldn't do that if I where you." _Emi said. Mai felt the shadows coming towards her, and threw her hands up to protect herself. Strangely, though, the shadows never reached. In fact, they seemed to be blocked by some sort of shield. Although Mai couldn't see it, a man in his mid-fifties stood in front of her, his hands folded, head bowed peacefully in front of him.

"It's a priest." John said.

"But why is he here?" Ayako asked. "Did the records have any indication of a priest dying here?"

"None from what I remember." Lin said. They watched in awe as he walked forward, placing his hands on Emis' shoulders.

"_Our Father, who art in Heaven,_

_Hallowed by thy name,"_

"It's english." John said. "He's saying the Our Father." Emi began to recite the prayer with the priest.

"_Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,_

_On earth as it is in Heaven._

_Give us this day, our daily bread,_

_And forgive us our trespasses,_

_As we forgive those who trespass against us,_

_And lead us not into temptation, _

_But deliver us from evil."_

The spirit shrieked and writhed as the pentagram disappeared.

"_Amen."_

A bloodcurdling scream came from the spirit as she dissolved away. Mai blinked, marveling in the fact that she was making out the two glowing figures in front of her. An older priest and Emi. The priest smiled, and ruffled the Emis' hair much like a father would before the duo faded away.

o.0.o.0.o

"Another case closed." Emi sighed, loading a box of equipment into the van. Mais' wound wasn't to bad, not to the point where she had to be hospitalized. Just had to be real careful with her arm for a while. She relished in the glory of being able to see again, as did everyone else. Narus first response was something along the lines of this: "Mai, I'm glad you can see again. Now you can continue with your job."

"I have a question or two for you Emi," Ayako piped up. "Who was that guy who helped you out?"

"Father Michel." Emi answered. "He died a couple years back. I wrote his eulogy, and read it."

"Really?" Mai asked, stopping to glance at the girl.

"Yeah, it was what he wrote in his will. His dad was very successful, and actually had a good chunk of money. He left it to me. I get it when I turn eighteen." she smiled softly. "I was like the daughter he never had."

"Did he die before you came to Ms. Hyuaba?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, quite a while before. He was a wonderful man. See, he was there for me in my darkest times, and preached the word of the lord to me. I guess he figured I still needed the help." she smirked. "Now, you see, if all those stupid psychiatrists would've left me alone, I could've just talked it out with Father Michel!"

o.0.o.0.o

**I REALLY need to think of a better ending paragraph...**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	15. File 12: Raven Part 1

**Hi everyone! I'm back! ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt, only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 12_

_Raven_

o.0.o.0.o

Mai stared absentmindedly out the window as they drove along the backroad. Again, they were heading to a foster care. Basically, it went something like this: A lady ran the foster care for children, and claimed that they were being attacked by an unseen force. It actually came much to her surprise that Naru took the case. Usually, he would say 'discipline your children better' or 'perhaps they are playing pranks'. But not this time. He flat out took the case just minutes after the owner told her story.

Mai figured he had a soft spot for orphaned children and orphanages, since he himself had once lived in one as a child.

Naru figured this was a small case, and didn't see the point of gathering everyone together, saying that Mai would be 'good enough' as a psychic medium. That, however, would not fly with Emi. No siree, the girl was bent on coming with them. She decided that the best form of action was to sit in the backseat of the van, alert and ready to go. When Mai, Lin, and, yes, even Naru, tried to pull her from the vehicle, she tried to bite them.

Emi: 1. SPR: 0.

Mai looked thoughtfully at the girl, who was now slumped against the window, earphones over her head, snoring softly as she slept peacefully. Whatever she was listening to drifted quietly from the earphones, and Mai guessed she had the volume up on max, drowning out any, if all, noise.

Slowly, they came up a winding driveway and upon a somewhat large house. Mai shook Emi awake, who swatted at her hand before waking up groggily.

"Eh?" Emi asked, looking out the window. "This the place?"

"Yeah." Mai answered as the stepped out of the car. Emis brow furrowed as she came into the fresh air.

"This doesn't sound like a place where kids lived. Heck, doesn't even have the feel to it." Emi muttered. Mai couldn't help but agree. This place was just so... _emotionless. _Emi was used to kids laughing and screaming gleefully. This place was silent.

Setting up equipment didn't take long, but like the house, the residents were deadly silent. There where four small kids, two boys, two girls, all between the ages of seven and twelve. One woman ran the foster care, a lady with bleached hair named Yoko Tomomi. The children where named Umi, Suzu, Ryo, and Nobu. None of the children seemed pleased to have them here, and Yoko didn't seem to be inviting them with welcoming arms, even though she notified them of the attacks.

"I'll take you to the base room." Yoko huffed. "You four, go play outside." the children nodded, shuffling towards the back door.

"Ms. Tomomi, I believe you said that you had five children under your care?" Naru said as more of a demand than a question.

"You mean Selene." Yoko said.

"Selene?" Mai raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like a japanese name..."

"It isn't. It's a greek name for moon." Emi piped up.

"Good luck trying to talk to her." Yoko said with distaste. "She's from America, and came here knowing nothing but english. I've tried teaching her Japanese, but she won't listen to me." Yoko rolled her eyes. "She's a strange one, that one. I swear, somethings wrong with her head. She can 'see ghosts' and 'talks to them'."

"So she's clairvoyante?" Emi asked. Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"Clair-what?" Yoko asked. Emi rolled her eyes.

"Psychic?"

"Like hell if she is." Yoko replied bitterly. "All of them are fakes. She just wants attention, she'd get more if she spoke japanese."

"**Then why don't you try to learn English?" **Emi asked innocently, going into the other language quickly and easily. Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"Eh?"

"**Maybe she just wants someone that can speak her language. That's not to much to ask."**

"Speak Japanese for the lords sake!" Yoko ordered. Emi smirked.

"**Nope." **Yoko stormed out of the room, and Emi chuckled. "**That was fun, hmm, Noll?" **Naru said nothing in response. Emi blinked, before stretching her arms above her head. She began speaking Japanese again. "I'm going to find Selene. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about."

"But what if she isn't psychic?" Mai asked. Emi shrugged.

"Still, she only speaks english. I speak english. So, unless Naru can find it in that lump of coal he calls a heart to speak her native language, I think we'll still have a lot to talk about." she walked out the door, seemingly content with what she assigned herself to do.

o.0.o.0.o

Emi walked out back, seeing that all the kids were out there. At first, she was fine with this. That was, until she realized they were chasing a small, pale, frail-looking girl with long, deep violet hair and deep navy eyes down, throwing stones and sticks at her. Her white sundress was tattered and dirty, and no shoes were on her feet.

"Hey, knock it off!" Emi yelled running forward. The leader of the group, the boy named Ryo, ignored her, and prepared another rock to throw. Emi reached out, and snagged his ear.

"Ow!" he cried, clawing at her wrist, trying to get her to let go.

"I told you to stop throwing rocks at her, and when I tell you to stop, you stop. Got it?" Emi said sternly, like a parent. Ryo growled at her, wrenching his ear out of her grasp. Slowly, his lips turned into a small, innocent smile that would melt any heart.

"We were only _playing."_

"Playing?" Emi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, playing. We were hunting the evil witch. The point of the game is to 'kill' the witch. We wanted it to be as real as possible."

"I read somewhere that they killed witches by throwing rocks at them." Umi piped up.

"Anyways, she's fine with it. Right Selene?"

"**No! No I'm not! It hurt!" **Selene yelled out.

"She said she was having fun." Ryo smirked. "Everything's fine."

"Really?" Emi smirked. "To bad for you that I speak English, and she's not having fun at all." Ryos' confident smirk fell into an openmouthed jawdrop. Slowly, he stepped away, and ran, the other three not to far behind. "**You okay?**" Emi asked in English.

"**You-You speak English. Like me.**" Selene smiled. "**What's your name?**"

"**Emi. And I already know you're Selene.**" Emi smiled. "**That's a pretty name. Did you know that Selene is the same name as the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology?**" Selene glanced up at Emi curiously, and shook her head.

"**Would you believe me if I said I could see ghosts?**" Selene asked suddenly. Emi tipped her head back and laughed, before scooping the girl up and spinning in a fast circle. The young girl screamed with delight and surprise. Emi stopped, and set the girl ground, where she toppled.

"**The whole world is spinning...**" she said jokingly as Selene knelt beside her. Quickly, Emi composed herself, sitting up and crossing her legs.

"**Do you believe me?**" Selene asked again. Emi smiled.

"**Of course! A fellow psychic has gotta support her fellow psychic!**"

"**You see them too?!**" Selene asked in shock. "**You believe me?!**"

"**Listen kid, I believe you. And I know what it's like to be doubted by others. It sucks. A lot.**"

"**I know.**" Selene sighed. "**I have another question.**"

"**Shoot.**"

"**How'd you get purple in your hair?**" Emi blinked before she chuckled.

"**I put 'em in there myself. Ms. Hyuaba says its fine, so I just said 'The hell with it', and got purple highlights in my hair.**" Selene gasped.

"**You said the 'H' word.**" Emi backtracked.

"**Whoops.**" Emi shrugged. "**Slipped out, I guess.**"

"**I always wanted to get a silver streak.**" Selene mused. She traced along her side bangs. "**Right along there. I think it would look like moonlight on a dark night, don't you?**"

"**Yeah, I suppose... But in order to get a highlight...**" Emi pulled off her drawstring bag, and dug around a bit before coming up victorious with a beanie almost identical to hers'. Only difference was that it was much newer looking. "**You've gotta start off with a beanie!**" Emi plopped the black-knit hat on Selenes' head, laughing as it fell into her eyes from being to big. Selene looked up innocently, pushing the beanie up farther with one chubby hand to see.

"**How come your eyes are two different colors?**"

"**Same reason I wear a beanie, put highlights in my hair, skateboard, and announce like the proud asshole I am that I'm psychic." **she smirked. **"'Cause I'm awesome that way." **Selene frowned.

"**You said the 'A' word.**" Emi blinked.

"**Whoops." **Emi shrugged. "**Don't repeat anything like that unless I say you can, 'kay?"**

o.0.o.0.o

**Sorry if its short. I just wanted to get the ball rolling. *shrugs* well... read and review!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	16. File 12: Raven Part 2

**Hullo, hullo! Ugh, I'm SOOOO bored with school right now. And I hate Biology.**

**...**

***scrolls through reviews***

**O.O**

**The Riptideshippers have tracked me down...**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 12_

_Raven_

o.0.o.0.o

"**C'mon,**" Emi murmured to Selene, lightly pushing her into the base. Mai looked at the small girl, suddenly overwhelmed with the huge amount of innocent cuteness this child seemed to possess. Somehow, the black beanie on her head made it seem all the more cuter. "**Show my coworkers what I taught you.**" The three remaining SPR members turned in the direction of the small girl. Almost frightened, she reached up, grabbed the beanie, and pulled it over her eyes. Emi blinked as she mumbled something. "**I don't think they heard you, Selene.**" Emi said with a gentle smile. Slowly, Selene lifted the hat off her eyes.

"He-llo." she said in shaky Japanese. "My na-me is Selene." She looked up at them with hopeful eyes. Naru nodded his head in approval.

"**Good job.**" he said. Selenes' face seemed to light up as she pointed to Naru.

"**English! Tea-man speaks English!**" she cried out happily. Naru raised an eyebrow.

"Tea-man?" he asked. Emi widened her eyes.

"I didn't tell her that."

"**Tea-man, Tea-man, Tea-man~!**" Selene continued bouncing around the room. She reached out and hugged Narus legs. She looked up, smiling. "**Tea-man speaks English!**"

"Emi." Naru said, trying to pry the child off him. Emi smirked, shaking her head.

"Lookie how cute, Mai!" Emi said, pointing at him. "How could you possibly expect me to take a child away from such joy?"

"**Emi! Emi! Tell them what I can do!**" Selene said, suddenly switching over to Emi, pulling at her T-shirt. Emi rolled her eyes.

"We've got a genuine psychic here." Emi said. "She's actually a very interesting little girl. Says she can read minds."

"Really?" Mai asked, happy that someone was speaking in sentences she could understand. She really needed to learn to practice her English...

"I guess." Emi shrugged, looking at Selene, who was now trying to get Lins attention.

"**Lin and Madoka, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!**" Selene exclaimed loudly. Whatever she said certainly caught Lins attention. He stopped typing altogether. Emi lips curled into a catlike smirk.

"Hm... Who is Madoka, I wonder? A girlfriend?"

"A friend." Lin answered simply.

"When are you proposing?"

"Who said anything about proposing?"

"Well, judging from what Selene said, this 'Madoka' is someone important."

"Selene's a child."

"Who read your mind for that information. Now tell me," Emis smirked seemed to grow. "When's the honeymoon? Auntie Emi wants her godsons and daughters!"

"If there were to be a honeymoon, let alone a wedding, I certainly wouldn't appoint you to be the godmother of my children." Lin said cooly.

"What? My poor little heart just shriveled away into the deep depths of nothingness, thanks to you." Emi said dramatically. Lin merely shrugged.

"Your loss." The Chinese man smirked in victory of winning the argument. Selene blinked, and pulled at Emis T-shirt again.

"**What was that about?**"

o.0.o.0.o

Warm welcomings' from Yoko continued as SPR sat down at the table for dinner. Sadly for Emi and Selene, they somehow got last pick for food, and ended up with cold rice. Emi said nothing, bowing her head for a moment. At first, Mai thought she was trying to contain rage or anger, but saw her lips moving. That was when Mai realized she was praying.

As soon as she was done, she dug into her rice, not at all displeased with the fact that it was cold. Selene picked at hers' for a moment before beginning to eat. Silence was heavy and awkward, and it seemed that everyone was glaring at, guess who, Emi.

"So do you really see ghosts, or are you a faker like Selene?" Umi asked with her mouth full. Emi swallowed.

"**It's rude to speak with your mouth full.**" Emi said in English. Selene glanced up at Emi, and stifled a giggle at the others confusion. It continued on like that, the kids took jabs at Selene and Emi, Emi answered in was actually kinda humorous, even though Mai was still a little shaky on what Emi was saying. Dinner continued on, and slowly came to an agonizingly long end.

"Selene, dishes." Yoko ordered, holding her dish out to the girl. Emi took it.

"**You heard her, gotta do some dishes.**" Emi smirked at Yoko, and continued to walk into the kitchen with the plates in hand. One awkward silence later, and everyone dismissed themselves from the table.

o.0.o.0.o

It's been a few days since SPR arrived at the home, and found that there was a very small amount of paranormal activity, minus Emi playing hide-and-seek while astro-projecting with Selene. Naru told her to stop multiple times because it was 'setting the readings off' but Emi just ignored him.

Selene felt it necessary to spend every waking moment with Emi, and now finds it mandatory that she stays with Emi at night. Emi had zero problems with it. Overall, it was kinda cute.

And to top it all off, Gene was appearing more and more around Mai, obviously getting this manifesting thing down-pat. It was strange. Sometimes he would just pop up out of nowhere, messing with her by making silly faces near Lin, or being a complete smartass around when Naru went into his bossy/narcissistic moods.

"Is there really a ghost here?" Mai asked. "We haven't had anything except for Emi."

"Emi claims that there is one, but won't come talk to her. She's only picking up minor things, like gender and emotions. So far, she got that it is female, and is actually very angry about something." Naru answered. "Mai, tea." Without a word, Mai went to the kitchen. While waiting for the water to boil, she looked out the window, and nearly gasped.

A huge raven, much bigger than average, sat on the sill. Not only was it big, but it's feathers seemed to glint purple instead of black. The eyes are what freaked Mai out the most. They were aquamarine blue, and she _knew _that was wacky on it's own. But what really troubled her was the fact that the eyes seemed so... so _human. _

It just sat there, and stared... and stared... and stared... Staring at her. Mai couldn't figure it out for the life of her _why _but it was increasingly freaking her out to no end. Quickly, she made up the tea, she couldn't help but notice that the raven followed her every move, those blue, human-like eyes following her as she prepared Narus' tea hastily.

Gathering the drink on a tray, she hurried back to the base, where Emi was standing without Selene by her side. Emi raised her hand in a wave.

"What's up, Short-Stop?" Emi asked with a smile.

"You're back." Mai smiled, remembering that Emi basically forced Lin to drive her to Ms. Hyuabas house and back for something. She had no idea what, though.

"Back and in the flesh. You look like you've seen a ghost." Emi crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Did you?"

"I'm not really sure." Mai said as she distributed tea to everyone minus Emi. "I was making the tea, and there was this really weird raven sitting outside on the windowsill. It was purple instead of black, and it's eyes were so... so human-like, I guess. It kept staring at me while I made the tea." Emi said nothing.

"Huh. So you're seeing her too." Emi mused.

"Her?" Naru asked. Emi nodded.

"That bird is the female spirit I've been feeling."

"Does Selene see her too?" Naru asked. Emi shrugged.

"No idea. I tried asking her, but she avoided the question." Emi scratched the side of her head thoughtfully. "Whoever she is, she's becoming curious. She sat outside my window last night while Selene was with me. And she just... stared."

"And what did you do in response?"

"I stared back. We stayed in the staring contest until about one in the morning before she flew off."

"Is it the bird the cause of the attacks?" Mai mused, mostly to herself.

"I really can't think of another reason." Emi shrugged. "I don't think she's exactly _malicious, _but more protective, I guess. I think she may have some sort of connection to Selene."

"Maybe she's her spirit guide?" Mai pointed out. Emi shook her head.

"I don't think so. Spirit guides typically don't attack the living, or am I wrong?" Emi looked at Mai, her eyes moving towards Gene, who floated about five inches off the ground calmly next to Mai.

"Maybe whatever is happening here is reminding the spirit of her past," Mai tried again. "And she's attacking because she doesn't want the same thing to happen again."

"Perhaps..." Emi trailed off. "I'm going to try talking to Selene again. I think she has some sort of connection to the bird. And I swear," Emi moved towards the door, saying the last part mostly to herself. "I swear that there's something they're hiding from us."

o.0.o.0.o

"**Selene?!**" Emi called as she wandered down the hallways of the house. "**Where are you?"**

"Stupid child!" Emi heard Yoko yelling down the hallway. Then a smacking sound, and crying. "Stupid, isolate, freaky ingrate!" Emi quickened her pace as she neared a door, stopping dead in her tracks as she heard a thunk and another cry of pain. Emi stood outside the door, hand hovering over the knob, mostly for two reasons.

One; she had a pretty good idea what was happening. She didn't want to loose her cool and flip out on their client and get(another) long lecture about responsibility and whatnot from the guy who was _two years _older than her. Naru was a teenager too! He had to have _some _sort of emotion or drive or _something. _He can't work all the time, right?

And two; If what was going on behind the door is what she _thought _was going on behind the door, she didn't want to flip out on the client and _accidentally, completely NOT purposefully _hit her in the gut and break her nose. And then her fingers, _on a complete, total, coincidental chance, _got tangled in Yokos' fake blond hair and, _ON COMPLETE ACCIDENT, _tore a huge chunk out.

Regardless, she flung open the door, finding Yoko standing over Selene, hand mid air, about ready to hit her again. Yoko turned, and put on a smile.

"Nothing to see here, go on with your little ghost hunting." she said sweetly. Emi stared blankly for a full thirty seconds, as if taking the time to comprehend what she already knew, and then backtracked and had to comprehend it again. Emi blinked, and marched forward, grabbing ahold of Selenes tiny arm, and marching out.

"Hey!" Yoko called after her. Emi kept walking, dragging Selene behind her, down the stairs and out the back door. She seriously needed some time to cool off before she could so much as _think _of looking at that lady again. "Stop it!" Yoko called again. This time, Emi did stop. She was shaking she was so pissed right now.

"Is that how you treat her on a regular basis?" Emi growled, momentarily forgetting the joke about her speaking only English to Yoko. No, this woman needed to hear and understand her wrath on this situation.

"Why should it be any of your business? I hired you to hunt down and get rid of the ghost, not become a supernanny and tell me how and how I shouldn't raise these kids." Yoko said with a smirk.

"You're doing it wrong! You don't beat children! Selene has told me what you've done, she told me you stopped because we were here! But I guess you just couldn't resist it could you?!" Emi whipped around, shooting icicles in Yokos' direction. "You single her out, pick on her, spread rumors to make the others hate her, and you order her to do things in a language she can't understand! And then when she doesn't follow orders, you beat her for it!" Emi paused for a breath. "She told me _everything!"_

"Are you questioning my ability to raise children?" Yoko asked, idly twisting a strand of hair around her finger, as if she could care less about the accusation.

"Yes, in fact, I am!" Emi exclaimed.

"And how would you know about anything? I mean, judging by your looks, you couldn't have already had a child, but with street rats like you, you never know." Yoko smirked at the insult she threw at Emi. The tall girl responded simply by whipping out a packet of folded papers from her back pocket, unfolding the front page and shoving it in Yokos face.

"What's this?" Yoko asked, staring at the papers with distain.

"I live in a foster care owned by a lady named Ms. Sakura Hyuaba. Besides me, there are eleven other children. Two teenagers, two pre-teens, a set of seven-year-old quads, two ten-year-olds, a five-year-old, and a four-year-old." Emi countered. "Ms. Hyuaba accepts all children, and would happily add Selene to our family. Just fill out this paper to transfer her to Ms. Hyuabas care. If this girl is such a problem for you, I'll trust you'll have no problems making the right choice." Yoko snatched the papers away, and turned abruptly on her heel. Suddenly, though, the raven from before swooped down, claws digging into Yokos arms, beak pecking at any exposed skin. Yoko screamed, and Emi knew that the bird was unseeable to her.

"**No! No, Raven, stop!**" Selene cried out towards the bird. Emi glanced at the girl raising an eyebrow. Raven? The bird, with a few last satisfactory scratch marks, flew off, disappearing as it flew along the sky. Yoko ran inside shrieking, still clutching the papers in hand. The other four children had peeked around the corner of the house, wondering why their caretaker was screaming like a banshee.

"**Selene, you need to tell me, who's Raven?**" Emi asked calmly and gently. Selene choked back a sob, and hugged Emi.

"**Raven was my big sister! She fell in the river and drowned!**" she cried. "**She wasn't a bird when she was alive, she was human! And she didn't attack people like that! I don't know what's wrong with her!**"

o.0.o.0.o

"Hey, have any of you seen Selene?" Emi asked as she peeked her head into the base. Mai raised an eyebrow.

"I thought she was with you."

"She was. I had to go to the bathroom, but she didn't want to come inside, so she waited on the back porch. I go back out, she's gone." There conversation was cut off as the raven from before landed on the windowsill, and began pecking urgently at the glass. Emi tilted her head to the side. "Raven?" she asked, although she addressed the bird like it had a name. It screeched, and everyone watched in amazement as it morphed into a girl who basically looked like the older version of Selene, only with lighter eyes and shorter hair. Although she was outside, her english words rang loud and true through the glass.

"**_Emi, you get out there and save my sister, damnit, they're going to push her into the river!_**_"_

o.0.o.0.o

Everyone was rushing outside, Emi glancing at the sky every so often for the now raven form of Raven, who flew quickly through the sky, and began circling over a certain area. They could hear the loud sounds of rushing water.

"Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!" Emi was yelling at the top of her lungs, her long legs moving her forward quickly. "Rivers flood in this area around this time, right?" wether it was a rhetorical question or not, no one answered, because everyone knew the answer. _Yes._

"Freak! You don't have your freaky sister or your weirdo friend to protect you now!"

"**Stop it! Give it back!**"

"Can't understand you~! You wanted us to throw it in the river?"

"**No! Please no!**" Selene was sobbing as Emi burst through the clearing, and saw the four other kids tossing the beanie that she gave to Selene back and forth, keeping it out of reach. Umi held the beanie dangerously over the edge of the rushing river.

"Okay? You sure?"

"**No! Give it back!**" Umi had an evil-as evil as it can get for a child- smirk on her face as she dropped the beanie.

"Whoops." Umi smirked. Selene did a surprising thing. She _jumped in _after the hat.

"Oh my god!" Emi yelled, rushing forward, kicking her shoes off, and dropping her bag and beanie next to them. "Selene!"

"Emi, don't, you'll get yourself killed!" Mai cried, seeing what she was planning. Emi completely ignored her, however, and jumped in anyways.

o.0.o.0.o

**MWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	17. File 12: Raven Part 3

**Okay guys, I've been having a real tough time lately. I real close friend of mine passed on, and, quite frankly, I'm stuck in a rut. But, get this: Last night I had a dream. NO KIDDING, my friend was in the dream, and told me not to be discouraged or saddened by his death. He told me to keep writing, because he was proud of me and my determination to write books. So I've decided that this Ghost Hunt fic is hereby written in the honor and memory of Jack, my dear friend who passed on Sept. 20th, 2013. This is for you, Jacksters!**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt.**

o.0.o.0.o

**_In memory of Jack, the boy who told me to keep writing... even when he wasn't there to support me._**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 12_

_Raven_

o.0.o.0.o

Was Emi insane for jumping into a flooded, rushing river after a child who jumped in after the beanie she gave her? Probably. Did Emi particularly care what her coworkers thought of her at the moment? Not one damn bit. She ignored the water whipping her around, this way and that, trying to pull her under. She ignored the chilling freeze as the water soaked her clothing. She ignored it all, and focused in Selenes head bobbing above the water, being pulled back under.

"Selene!" Emi shouted towards the small child, reaching her hand out and snatching the girls wrist.

"**Emi! Emi!**" Selene screamed. Emi looked up, and snatched a tree branch hanging over the river. Slowly, she pulled herself up with one hand, Selene still in the other. She came out to her waist, Selene with her head just above water. Emi tried pulling the small girl up, but found herself sapped for strength.

"**Selene, listen to me," **Emi said slowly in a strained voice, the frigid water and fight to keep her head above water starting to take it's toll. "**Climb up onto me to get above the water."**

**"B-but Emi..."**

**"Do it!" **Emi ordered.

"**But... But I'm scared! What if you fall?!**"

"**Are you kidding me?" **Emi asked with a smirk. "**I'm Extraordinary Emi! And I'm not gonna let you fall, you hear?!**" Selene paused for a moment, and slowly began to shimmy up Emis body until the teenage girl had a firm grip around her waist.

"Emi!" it was Lin.

"Take Selene first, got that?!" Emi demanded. Lin stretched his arm out to the little girl, just barely reaching her.

"Emi!" Mai exclaimed in warning. Emi looked over her shoulder. A huge gush of water was coming their way, surely enough to pull the drained girl from the branch she holding onto. She glanced down at Selene, who's small fingers were dancing around Lins, just out of reach.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. "Lin!" that caught the mans attention. Emi brought her arm around Selene up, grinding her teeth together. "Batter up!" Suddenly, she tossed the young girl to his direction, catching everyone off guard as she landed into him. Both fell down, Selene jumping up just to see Emi get swept away by the water.

Emi was pulled under, running dangerously low on breath. Suddenly, her entire body smacked into a rock, head snapping back, hitting the back painfully. Red stained the water as she tried to focus on getting to the surface. Everything hurt like hell, but damnit, she had a life to live.

It felt like it took forever, but finally someone managed to wrap their hand around her wrist, and dragged her out. Selene was screaming, and she heard Mai calling her name. She was on her back, looking up at the sky. Raven suddenly appeared above her, and nodded in approval.

"**Take good care of her, you hear?**" Raven said sternly. It barely registered in her clogged up mind, but she nodded.

"**See... ya..." **Emi muttered, raising her arm in a half wave before it fell limply to her side. The world suddenly became very fuzzy...

o.0.o.0.o

"**Emi!**" Selene screamed, watching as Lin pulled the half-conscious girl from the raging rapids. "**Emi! Emi, Emi, Emi!**" she fell down sobbing. "**This is like what happened with Raven! Raven! Emi!"**

**"See... ya..." **Emi muttered. This only made Selene scream more.

"**No! No 'see ya'! Stay, Emi, stay!"**

"Lin, call an ambulance!" Naru ordered as Emis' eyes began glazing over.

"Right!" Lin hurried off to the house.

"**Emi! Raven!**" Selene was still screaming. "**Don't leave Emi, don't leave!**"

"She's not going to leave." Mai said, temporarily forgetting the small girl didn't know Japanese. Slowly, Selene looked up at her.

"How do you kn-ow?" she asked in her cute, shaky Japanese. Mai leaned down, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I know these things." Mai answered. Selene blinked.

"In-stinct. Like Raven." she said. Mai nodded.

"Yes, instinct, Selene."

The ambulance came shortly thereafter, taking Emi into the hospital.

o.0.o.0.o

"Em... She... up?"

"No..."

"Emi... Wake... up..."

"Go away," Emi mumbled.

"EMI!" a rather loud voice shouted in her ear. Emi winced.

"Yo, I'm trying to sleep here..." Emi said, opening her eyes in a defiant glare.

"**Emis awake! She's awake Mr. Tea-Man, Short-Stop!**" Selene exclaimed happily.

"Eh...?" Emi asked, blinking, and sitting up. "What happened?"

"You hit your head." Naru explained briefly.

"Why thank you, Naru the damn narcissist!" Emi exclaimed sarcastically. "I _never _would've gotten that if it hadn't been for you!"

"You're welcome." Naru smirked. Emi raised her middle finger to him.

"**That's bad, Emi..." **Selene mumbled with a small smile. The beanie, although slightly soggy, sat atop the small girls head.

"How are you feeling, Emi?" Mai asked. Emi shrugged.

"Got any advil? My heads gonna explode."

"You're lucky you didn't suffer from a concussion! You hit your head hard!" Mai exclaimed.

"Huh." Emi shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "Where's Lin?"

"Back at the house. He's packing up the equipment." Naru explained. Emi raised an eyebrow.

"Case closed?"

"Ye-ah." Selene said, a little forlornly. "Raven mov-ed on." Emi raised and eyebrow.

"**Have you been practicing, Selene?**" Selene nodded.

"Mis-ter Tea-Man!" she explained happily. Emi blinked, glancing at Naru, wondering if he took the time to teach her. Slowly, she smiled, and shook her head.

_Nah._

"Good job!" she said to the small girl, giving her a thumbs up.

"Good job!" Selene repeated. "Good job! Good job! Good..." she trailed off as Yoko entered the room. "Job..." she clutched onto Emis arm, as if afraid the woman would tear her apart from her new 'sister'. Yoko glanced at Selene in disgust, and threw a small suitcase and backpack on the floor. She walked up to Emi, shoved some papers into her hands, and walked out without a word.

"What is it?" Mai asked, looking over Emis shoulder at the papers as she unfolded them.

"**Bunny!**" exclaimed Selene, pulling out a light purple bunny-rabbit stuffed animal with big floppy ears from one of the bags. "**Why's all my stuff here...?**"

"Well I'll be damned." Emi muttered. "That lady finally did something kind for you, Selene." Selene blinked, climbing up next to Emi, looking at the paper, written in a language she didn't understand.

"**A child has been requested to be moved to another location. By signing this legal document, this child can be moved to another foster care, orphanage, or into the care of new adoptive parents." **Emi read aloud in English. "**The child, Selene Andrews, is hereby being relocated to the care of Ms. Sakura Hyuaba. Signed, Yoko Tadashi."**

o.0.o.0.o

"**She's such a sweet kid, Raven." **Emi whispered to the floating girl beside her. Both were looking at the sleeping Selene, now happily asleep in another room in Ms. Hyuabas foster home. Slowly, Emi shut the door. Both made their way back to her room.

**_"You better take good care of her for me, you hear? I can't stress it enough..."_**

**"You were a good sister." **Emi smiled. Raven turned her head away.

"**_Yeah, yeah, I know." _** Raven muttered before waving her hand. **_"See ya around, 'kay?"_**

**"Of course." **Emi nodded with a smile as the seventeen-year-old girl disappeared. Emi looked out the window, leaning against the glass in her thoughts. "_So that's the fifth hand on that of twelve..."_

o.0.o.0.o

**UGH. I'm done with this case. Sorry for the shortness... But anyways, Yays! And I left you to think about something! XD**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	18. File 13: Haunted History Part 1

**Hey all you peoples~! I'm baaaaaack~! ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own Ghost Hunt. Only Emi.**

o.0.o.0.o

_File 13_

_Haunted History_

o.0.o.0.o

"Are there any spirits here, Ms. Hara?" a reporter asked. The doll-like girl raised her kimono sleeve to her mouth, a gesture that she picked up long before her TV days as a psychic medium.

"There are a few, but I cannot place were they are. They're hiding."

"Draw them out." A teenage girl, perhaps a part of the family, said. Masako raised an eyebrow.

"It is not my duty to draw them out. They will come to me when they are ready." Masako said, folding her hands in front of her. The kimono clad girl turned, and kept walking. The TV crew and client family following behind her. She stopped in front of a door, the number thirteen on the front.

"Do you sense something, Ms. Hara?" one person asked. Masako raised an eyebrow curiously, and opened the door to the room.

"What is that smell...?" she muttered to herself, looking around the room. A couple steps forward, and there was a cracking noise. Slowly, she looked up. Cracks formed around the ceiling fan, and in one split second, it was falling.

Masako screamed, throwing her arms over her head as the fan fell on top of her.

o.0.o.0.o

"Masako, you okay?" Mai asked as the medium awoke, nonetheless surprised to see the entirety of SPR in her hospital room. Even Yasu had dropped by, despite college entrance exams that he had to study for and pass.

"Maybe." Masako answered vaguely.

"Hey," Emi smiled from the doorway, a bouquet of lilies in hand. Her spare arm was, strangely, off to the side, behind the wall. "No idea what flowers you liked... but Selene insisted on lilies."

"Selene?" Ayako asked. Emi responded by pulling the little girl into the room. Selene was latched onto Emis arm, looking around curiously with wide eyes. Emi smiled.

"Everyone, this is Selene. Selene, this is everyone."

"Mister Tea-man!" she exclaimed, pointing at Naru. "Short-stop! Monk! Father Brown! Ayako! And Typey-guy!" she continued on, moving her finger from each of them with the mention of their names.

"'Typey-guy?" Lin asked. Selene nodded.

"Typey-guy." she confirmed. She looked at Yasu. "I dunno who you are."

"Yasuhara, but you can call me Yasu." Yasu smiled, turning to Emi. "You must be Emi."

"The one and only." the girl said boldly.

"I heard rumors that someone had replaced me for my time out." Masako said.

"Psychic and expert in astro-projection!" Emi said with a wink. "But you're the famous Masako Hara! Screw me, Selene came 'cause you're practically her idol."

"I'm Selene!" Selene said in the same bold manner as Emi. "I don't speak jap-a-nese very well yet, so no big words."

"Of course." Masako nodded, accepting the flowers gratefully from the small girl.

"I can see them too." Selene said. "I can do a lotta things. I can read minds."

"Ah, really, huh?" Monk said. "I'm thinking of a number between one and-"

"Sixty-two." Selene answered.

"Another number."

"Twelve."

"Anoth-"

"Ramen noodles." Selene answered before giggling. "That's silly! Ramen noodles isn't a number!"

"So what happened here? How'd you end up in the hospital?" Emi asked.

"I was investigating a case of spirits haunting the Hanagata hotel." Masako answered.

"I've heard of that place." Monk said. "Claims to be crazy haunted, over a hundred and fifty years old. A great attraction for history fanatics." he scratched his head. "A surprise they let you in, though. They don't like the fact that everyone claims the place to be haunted, and rarely lets anyone in with intentions of hunting for ghosts."

"They've become increasingly worried." Masako continued. "Employees are quitting and they're getting awful reviews online about being attacked and waking up with scratches."

"Did you sense anything?" Naru asked. Masako nodded.

"Yes. There are many spirits here, but they all hid from me. I was trying to find them, and the next thing I knew, I was underneath a ceiling fan."

"Maybe we should take the case." Mai said. "I mean, people are getting hurt. I know what happened to Masako could be a complete accident..."

"But we don't know if all the reviews that happened were a 'complete accident'." Emi said. "And she said there were spirits." Naru seemed to run the idea through his mind.

"Yasuhara, are you able to come on this case?" he asked. Yasu smirked.

"I have to play the part of Kazuya Shibuya again?"

"If you can." Naru responded.

"I think I could postpone the exams." Yasu shrugged. "Sure."

"Question!" Emi said. "Why does Yasu have to be you?"

"Publicity reasons." Mai shrugged. "He's not a camera person." Emi thought about it for a few minutes.

"Is it 'cause of who Mis-ter Tea-Man really is?" Selene asked Mai.

"Didn't tell her!" Emi said, raising her hands in defense of Narus glare. Selene giggled.

"I can read minds! Re-mem-ber, Mr. Tea-Man!" Selene smiled. Naru let out a sigh. Muttering about making sure to talk to Selene about this later.

o.0.o.0.o

"I'm assuming you're Mr. Shibuya?" a man in his late sixties asked, addressing Lin. Lin shook his head.

"That would be me." Yasu said, stepping forward. "Kazuya Shibuya, owner of SPR. It's a pleasure to be able to investigate such a historic piece of property. These are my assistants, Mai Taniyama, Narumi Kazuo, and Koujo Lin. My coworkers, Houshou Takigawa, a monk from Mt. Koya, Ayako Matsuzaki, a Shinto priestess, John Brown, and Australian priest, and Emi, our psychic medium."

"Emi...?" a women in her, also in her late sixties, pushed.

"It's just Emi." Emi responded for herself. A couple blinks. An awkward pause. Emi spoked. "You are?"

"My name is Jiro." said the man. "This is my wife, Izumi, and my granddaughter," he turned towards a girl close to Emis' age. "Natsumi. My wife and I own the hotel." They led us inside. "It would be appreciated if you tried to keep this secret from the public eye... we're still open to patrons."

"Of course." Yasu said. "You do realize that we will be setting up cameras around, correct?"

"Yes, and we've put a notice out that we were trying out new security systems in the hotel."

"From what I've gathered, it doesn't seem like this place being haunted is all that secretive." Emi chirped, following behind the owners and SPR. Jiro shot her a cold glare.

"Yes, but letting in a ghost hunting team is, little girl."

"Ironic you're calling me little when I can look you directly in the eye." Emi countered nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Are you sure you're old enough to be working for a business?" Izumi asked.

"Who's that question being directed at?" Emi asked with a smirk. Another heavy silence, realizing that nearly half the members of SPR were still classified as being 'high schoolers'.

"Anyways, this is your base." Natsumi said cheerfully. _To _cheerfully, in Emis' opinion, which she stated as soon as the family was gone.

o.0.o.0.o

"So do you like hunting down ghosts?"

"Would I be working for this company if I didn't?"

Mai turned around the corner, not surprised to see Natsumi flirting with Naru. Even though it irked her to no end, Mai had somehow managed to get used to it. It's not like Naru had any interest in any of them anyways, and always answered with cold remarks.

"_Ah, so Noll is stealing all the hearts again?" _Gene asked, floating beside her. Mai scoffed.

"Stealing them and then breaking them." she muttered, walking past Emi.

"Hey, Short-Stop." she waved, and looked over her shoulder. "Ghost-Man that looks like Naru."

"_You didn't tell her yet?"_

"How would I even begin to tell that story?" Mai countered.

"_Like this." _Gene turned towards Emi. "_Hi! My name is Eugene Davis, but you can call me Gene. I'm Nolls' deceased identical twin brother, and currently Mais spirit guide. How do you do?"_

"Just fine, thanks for asking." Emi responded. "Emi. And before you ask, it's just Emi. Psychic and astro-projector, currently the youngest employee of SPR."

_"Nice to meet you. Although, there's something that's bothering me." _Gene said. He levitated a few inches off the ground, just an inch or two above Emis' head. "_I really can't stand being looked down upon._" Emi chuckled.

"Good joke, Gene." she smiled with a wave. "See ya on the astro plane." And with that, Emi walked off.

"_Interesting girl." _Gene said.

"Tell me about it." Mai mumbled with an eye roll.

o.0.o.0.o

"Ah, Mai!" Yasu said as the girl walked in. They had _finally _finished setting up base, and was now preparing to set up cameras and microphones. "See, I've sent John and Monk to do some research at the local library. Ayako and Emi are doing a walkthrough, trying to place spirits. Narumi suggested that Natsumi should take you around the hotel, showing you the hotspots. Will you mark them down on this map here, along with temperature readings?"

"Alright, Boss!" Mai said with a mock salute. See how enthusiastic she was? If only Naru asked her as nicely as Yasu did, then the amount of arguments that the two had would lessen by half!

The conversation between Mai and Natsumi was... less than joyful. Seems this girl had multiple personalities. Cheery around Naru? Check. Bitch around Mai? Check.

"So are you and Narumi..." Natsumi trailed off, watching skeptically while Mai jotted down some temperature readings. "Dating?"

"No. We're only connected on work terms." Mai said, and had slowly come to believe. He rejected her the first time she told him how he felt... even though she didn't exactly feel that way towards Gene. Her falling for Gene would almost be like her falling for Yasu. Strictly friends.

"Then me flirting with him earlier... and you running off in a huff was completely coincidental?" Natsumi asked with a smirk. Mai blushed. She saw that? Then... did that mean that Naru with his super freaky hearing and seeing skills saw that too?

"I didn't realize you were flirting." Mai said slowly. "I was angry because I realized that my sense of direction had decided to curse me once again." Natsumi didn't respond. "So... are you staying with your grandparents or something?"

"No." Natsumi said. "My Mom died in a car crash."

"I'm sorry." Mai said. She truly meant it.

"My Dad went into depression and drank himself to death, so to speak."

"Alcohol abuse." Mai nodded.

"Yeah. Now Nana and Gramps takes care of me." An awkward pause.

"_Man," _Mai thought as they left the final room. _"This case is just filled with awkward pauses."_

o.0.o.0.o

**Done. Eh. Okay, I could do better... but I'm still sorting out details in this case.**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


End file.
